To Touch a Star
by The Slytherin Songbird
Summary: It's been eight years since Chihiro Ogino escaped from Yubaba's bath house, and now she's preparing to leave for college, with no memories of her time in the spirit world. Her plans are changed when she finds an old tunnel in the woods and wanders back to the land she'd left behind, where she meets a mysterious boy who claims to know her and learns that the realm is in danger.
1. Chapter One: One Summer's Day

For the first time since she'd moved here eight years ago, Chihiro Ogino's bedroom was empty. With the exception of her bed, pushed against the bay window to the far left of the room and stripped bare of all its sheets, and the white dresser that rested next to her closet door, everything had been packed into boxes that now lined the room in precariously stacked piles, ready to be shipped off and moved away. When the prospect of packing up her belongings to prepare herself for college move-in day had first rolled around, she'd been unable to imagine where to even begin. She'd been under the impression all along that it would be impossible to narrow one's whole life down to a series of neatly organized boxes, and yet, it seemed even precious memories were capable of being easily stored away. Now her bedroom looked to her the way that it had the very day they'd arrived here what seemed like an eternity ago, ready to begin their new life in a new town: empty and cold.

And now another milestone in her life had descended upon her, and if she were being completely frank, Chihiro didn't quite know _how_ she ought to feel about it. Of course, it would be a lie to say that she wasn't excited for college; for months after she'd received her acceptance letter, she'd daydreamed of majestic institutional buildings all draped with ivy, relaxing with her new friends on the lush green lawn of the Student Union, and even going to her first college party. She'd even met her roommate already via social media, and it seemed like the two of them were bound to be fast friends. In spite of all this, though, she couldn't help but nurse her apprehensions that lurked beneath all the eagerness. She'd be without her parents, out on her own, with new responsibilities and expectations placed upon her shoulders, and that went without mentioning the fact that she'd be moving to an entirely new city. When she took all this into consideration, it was difficult to _not_ be nervous.

She'd expressed her concerns to her mother, who of course had been understanding. Chihiro could always count on Mrs. Ogino to be the optimistic voice in her life whenever she was feeling particularly fearful about a new situation; even now, years later, she could still remember the day they'd arrived in her new town, and her mother had said, "It's fun to move to a new place. It's an _adventure_." Her thoughts on going to university for the first time were within a similar vein – she'd affectionately rubbed the heel of her hand lightly along the length of her daughter's spine, confessing that she'd been a nervous wreck when she left home for school, too, and that even though it would certainly be an adjustment, Chihiro would turn out alright in the end because _she_ had, after all. The words of encouragement were simple, and yet, they were – as always – successful in calling the beginnings of a rueful smile to the corners of her mouth.

Mr. Ogino seemed equally as thrilled for his daughter, and doubly pleased with the hard work she'd done to get there in the first place. She'd always had the unfortunate tendency towards apathy, especially when she was just a child, and whenever she'd felt like giving up or quitting altogether when schoolwork became too difficult, too stressful, her father had been there to act as her rock. Stalwart, consistent, and with a healthy appreciation for a strong work ethic, Mr. Ogino was the kind of man who _could_ have been strict, where it not for the fact that he was so perpetually jovial, himself. Where her mother tended to err on the side of caution, her father was impulsive, brash, loud, and yet underneath that he'd always been a surprisingly gentle man. Through all her years of high school, through the hectic process of sending college application after application, he'd been there whenever she need him to give her the extra resolve to finish what she started.

As she mulled all this over, Chihiro lingered in the doorway of her bedroom, still scarcely able to believe that it had been reduced to such emptiness. With a melancholic little smile, she walked into the room, remembering all too well the day she'd first seen it as a ten-year-old girl – she'd fallen in love with it quickly back then, and even now, it was difficult to leave it behind. _What if my dorm isn't as comfortable? What if it's always too cold in there?_ Stubbornly, she pushed those negative thoughts to the back of her mind, determined not to let her fears ruin her excitement for tomorrow's move-in day. With a sigh, Chihiro raked her thin fingers through her mess of brown bangs, ambling around the room and drinking in all the details; though she would surely come home for the longer breaks, she wasn't certain of the next time she would ever see this place, and wanted to remember it as clearly as possible.

Out of the corner of her eye, a flash of light caught her attention. Blinking in a moment of stunned surprise, Chihiro glanced over in the direction of the sudden little flare, wondering if it could possibly be a little trinket that she'd forgotten to pack. With a curious arch of her eyebrows, she edged over to her dresser, where she found the culprit sitting atop its smoothly finished surface. It was a little pink hair tie, and the mid-afternoon sunlight streaming in through her windows had spilled onto it just long enough to cause it to shimmer. She picked it up and wrapped it around her wrist, holding it up to level with her eyes and examining it closely. Not for the first time, she found herself wishing she could remember where she'd gotten it; perhaps she'd found it on the day she'd first moved here, and had accidentally gotten lost in the woods. That was the story her parents had told her, and yet . . . another memory lingered in the back of her mind like a ghost, soft and sweet and yet frustratingly impossible to reach.

For whatever reason, her memories of the day she'd moved to this house had always been foggy. She could remember walking through that gloomy-looking tunnel with her mother and father, and the magnificent green meadow they'd found on the other side . . . but after that, she wasn't entirely certain of what had happened. She'd gotten separated from her parents and wandered around for hours until finally finding them on the other side of the tunnel again – at least, that was what her mom and dad said – but for whatever reason, something about that version of events sounded. . . _off_. According to her parents, when they'd finally been reunited again, she'd told them this harrowing tale of a boy who could turn into a dragon, and a bath house for spirits, and how she'd fought so hard to rescue them from a power-hungry witch. To them, it had been nothing more than a ridiculous little story, the traumatized musings of a frightened little girl who had been left on her own, but to Chihiro, it had seemed so real.

 _Did I really dream it all up?_ She found herself wondering, still gazing, transfixed, at the hair bow on her wrist. Even as the possibility crossed her mind, she found a sense of dismay sinking into the pit of her stomach; she knew that it wasn't real, that such a thing could never be possible, and yet, the realization disappointed her, all the same.

The strident ring of the telephone jolted her out of her reverie. Jumping, Chihiro quickly turned around on her heel, walking over and peeking her head around the doorway upon hearing her mother answer downstairs. For a few seconds, Mrs. Ogino's voice was nothing more than a pleasant mumble, but there was a moment's pause just before she called upstairs, "Chihiro! It's your friend, Mei, for you!"

That came as little surprise to her. Tomorrow, Mei would be moving into her own college, too; she probably just wanted the chance to say goodbye. Grinning to herself, Chihiro headed downstairs, skipping the last two stairs to dart into the kitchen and accept the telephone from her mother. "Hello?" she answered, balancing the phone between the crook of her shoulder and her cheek.

"Hey! Are you busy right now, Chihiro?" came Mei's chipper voice from the other end. In the background, Chihiro could hear a vague sort of shuffling that almost sounded like laughter – perhaps their other friends were with Mei right now, too.

"Nope, just thought I'd finish getting my stuff together for tomorrow," she responded. "Why?"

Mei's reply was a delighted giggle. "Great! Takeshi and Ari are over at my house, and we thought we'd go for a walk through the woods just off the road. You know, Takeshi told me he saw a bunch of creepy old shrines down there once. We were gonna see if we could find any. D'you wanna come with us?"

Chihiro gulped; those little shrines . . . could they possibly have anything to do with that bizarre memory she had, or the story she'd told her parents? For whatever reason, a strange sense of foreboding flooded the pit of her stomach. It wasn't wise for Takeshi and the others to goof off around those shrines, though she couldn't precisely put her finger on why she got that feeling. Anyway, that dense thicket of trees and shrubbery had always been distinctly eerie, and the thought of taking a casual little stroll through the dirt pathway that wound its way through the forest was more nerve-wracking than appealing.

Still, in spite of her misgivings, Chihiro sighed and conceded, "Y-Yeah. Sure. I guess so. I think my parents will want me to be back, early, though – my mom thought it would be fun to cook this big last dinner together before I leave for school. Just me and my mom and dad, y'know?" As if to punctuate her sentence, a soft, slightly disjointed little laugh escaped from her parted lips, and she found herself sheepishly rubbing the back of her neck.

"Okay, okay, we'll have you back in time for dinner!" Mei agreed. "Chihiro, are you sure you're okay with this? You sound like you've seen a ghost."

Another sigh. "Of course – I'm fine. I guess I'm just nervous about tomorrow. Um . . . anyway, so do you just want me to meet you guys at your house?"

"Yeah, that'd be great," Mei chirped, her friend's apprehensions already forgotten in favor of her usual excitement. "And then we'll head down to the woods from there. See you in a little while, then!"

There was a barely-audible click from the other side of the line, and Chihiro shook her head, amused as always by her friend's inability to conceal her eagerness. Hanging up her own phone, she headed into the television room, where her mother and father were seated, looking over the little booklet they'd received in the mail from Chihiro's university, 'oohing' and 'aahing' over the pictures of the campus included inside. Meandering into the room, she almost felt the slightest bit guilty for asking their permission to go out for a while when this was the last full day they would have with one another before she moved away. Still, this was her last day with Mei and the others, too, and she had the feeling that her parents would be understanding of that, at least.

"Hey, guys," she said by way of greeting, lifting her hand in an awkward little wave. As if on cue, Mr. and Mrs. Ogino lifted their heads, curious for a moment, and upon spotting their daughter, their expressions simultaneously changed into upbeat little smiles. "What're you doing?"

With a rueful little laugh, her mother propped her cheek against the palm of her hand and said, "Oh, we were just browsing through that letter from school. It's a beautiful place, Chihiro, you're going to absolutely love it."

"Did you see here that they won an _award_ for their writing program?" her father interjected, eyes bright with enthusiasm. "That must mean all your classes really _will_ be the best money can buy."

It was Chihiro's turn to grin now; it seemed her parents were just as excited as she, perhaps even more so. "Yeah, I can't wait," she replied with a little laugh, moving to sit down beside them on the sofa. "I finished getting all my stuff packed up a few minutes ago. Maybe we can start getting things loaded up this evening so we don't have to do it all in the morning."

"I'm sure that'll be just fine, honey," said Mrs. Ogino, reaching out and stroking the tips of her fingers affectionately through Chihiro's long, dark hair. With a sigh, she added wistfully, "I just can't believe this is really happening. It seems like only yesterday you were still a little girl, clinging to my leg whenever you got scared."

"Agh – _Mooommm_ ," Chihiro groused, though her displeasure and embarrassment with such an open display of affection was mostly feigned. The grimace on her face slowly but surely fought its way into a smile once more, and she said, "It's not like I'm going to be gone forever. I'll call as often as I can, and I'm gonna come home for breaks and stuff anyway. Don't worry." Somewhat awkwardly, she reached out and gave her mother a tiny pat on the hand, the smile on her face turning much more genuine now.

Her mother seemed to take a moment to stiffen her resolve before responding. "I know," she concluded at last, "but that doesn't mean I won't miss you all the same. But as long as you're happy, your father and I will be, too. And we're _so_ proud of you, sweetheart."

It was her father's turn to chuckle now, a low rumble resonating deep in his chest. "You bet we are," he cut in, loud and proud as always. "You've worked hard all through school; if anyone's earned their chance at a good education, it's you. Seems like you just grew up overnight sometimes."

The grin returned to Chihiro's face as its own rueful ghost, and she leaned her head against her mother's shoulder, squeezing her father's hand affectionately for a moment before gently releasing it. "I'm going to miss you both, too," she confided, though of course she thought that much would be obvious already. "Hey, are we still on for that big dinner tonight? I looked up recipes and printed them out earlier, so we could try those and have a little fun with it."

Mrs. Ogino gave a light shrug, raising her eyebrows thoughtfully. "I don't see why not," she reasoned. "Just as long as we have all the ingredients we need here at home already. It'll give you plenty of practice," she tacked on with a conspiratorial wink in Chihiro's direction, "for when you have to cook by yourself at school."

"Okay." There was a brief pause, and then Chihiro remembered her initial reason for entering this conversation in the first place. "Oh, hey, Mom? Dad? I just got off the phone with Mei – she, Takeshi, and Ari are going to go for a walk, and they wanted me to come with them. I made them promise to get me back here before dinner, so I won't be long. Is it okay if I head out for a while?" Technically, she was a legal adult, and didn't necessarily _need_ to ask permission, but all the same, she thought it only courteous; it was her last day here, after all, and her parents might well have wanted to spend time with her.

Thankfully, they didn't seem too deterred. "Sure," her father said with a nod. "Just be sure to wear your good hiking shoes. We don't want another accident like the time your soles wore out and you fell down that muddy hill, remember?"

Chihiro cringed; that memory wasn't likely to leave her mind anytime soon. She'd been fifteen years old then, but even now she could still vividly recall bumping into every twig and thorn the entire way downhill. "Yeah, I will," she agreed. "Thanks, guys. I'm gonna go ahead and get on my way; I'll be back soon, though," she assured them once again as she rose from her seat.

"Bye, then, honey," said her mother with a wave, "and have a good time. Take your cell phone with you! Call if you need anything!"

"Okay!" called Chihiro over her shoulder as she headed up to her room once again to retrieve her hiking shoes. "See you later!"

And yet, despite her happiness with the fact that she'd get to see her friends, when she set out for the evening and the front door shut behind her, she couldn't help but have the strange feeling that it would be the last time she'd see her house again for a long while.

* * *

Mei's house was at the end of the street, a modest two-story nearly identical to Chihiro's, except for the fact that the exterior was soft yellow rather than periwinkle blue. When Chihiro arrived, Takeshi, Mei, and Ari were already waiting outside, laughing boisterously where they stood in a circle on the front lawn. She pulled into Mei's driveway and parked her bike next to Takeshi's, hopping off and headed over to greet them where they all waited, each sporting ear-to-ear grins. They'd all been friends since they were around ten or eleven years old; when Chihiro had first moved to town, she'd been lonely at school for the first few weeks or so. Mei, Ari, and Takeshi had taken it upon themselves to sit next to her at lunch every day, and as the years had gone by, they'd formed a bond so strong, they were almost scared to leave for separate colleges now that the time had finally come.

"Hey, you finally made it," Mei greeted, laughing and pulling her elaborate braid of sleek black hair over her slim shoulder. "I was starting to wonder if you were going to show up at all!" From anyone else, the words might have come across as demanding or passive-aggressive, but from Mei, they were just as playful as everything else she always said, her brown eyes lively and friendly as ever.

"Sorry," said Chihiro with a shrug and a soft laugh. "I couldn't help it. My parents are being gloomy empty-nesters already, and I haven't even left yet. It's depressing. I felt bad just going out by myself."

"My parents'll probably be throwing a party in the streets when I'm finally outta their house," said Takeshi, scrubbing his hand sheepishly through his spiky hair – which, Chihiro noticed, he had recently died so blonde that it almost looked snowy white. "Can't say I blame 'em – I'm _ready_ to move out."

Ari, the only one of the group who had decided to stay at home rather than pursue a four-year education, gave a thoughtful little smile and said in her usual shy way, "I'm really happy for you guys. I'm sure you're going to have a lot of fun. Just don't forget about me, okay?"

"Of course not!" Chihiro cried earnestly. "I'll call – and we can video chat sometimes, too, right, Mei? Takeshi?" she glanced between the two of them, eyebrows raised expectantly; it was bad enough that Ari had to stay home and take care of her younger sister rather than go to school, but she certainly didn't need the added fear of her friends moving on without her to weigh her down.

"Duh!" Takeshi replied, as Mei said, "You bet!"

"We'd have to be idiots to _not_ ," Takeshi added, much to the approval of both Chihiro and Mei, who nodded vigorously in agreement.

Ari laughed at this, apparently not having anticipated such an overwhelmingly positive response. "Alright, alright, I believe you," she said, lifting a hand to adjust her glasses. "Now, are we going to go for that walk or not? Weren't you gonna show us those little shrines you were talking about, Takeshi?"

"Oh, yeah!" he answered, eyes widening as if the thought had only now occurred to him. "Come on, I think they were down this way . . ."

And without another moment's hesitation, they were off, trekking down the long, sloping hill behind their houses until the suburb disappeared and gave way to a thick forest, the asphalt under their feet turning into soft mud and crunching autumn leaves. The air was crisp and cool as they strode farther along, thankfully keeping them from getting winded too quickly; from somewhere deep within the woods, Chihiro could hear the trickling of a stream, and was vaguely reminded of the time she'd fallen into a river as a little girl.

 _Someone pulled me from the water_ , she recalled to herself, brow furrowing, deep in thought. _But who was that? If only I could just remember even a little bit . . . I think it was him. The same boy I told my parents about . . . but he's not real. None of it was real . . . but I want it to be._

Squaring her shoulders, Chihiro drew in a deep breath, shaking her head and firmly chasing the thoughts out of her mind. As far as she was concerned, none of that was real, and it did no good to dwell on the past, anyway. Besides, how could she be so sure that she hadn't just imagined the entire thing? She'd been frightened of moving to a new home back then, and upon getting separated from her parents and lost on the other side of that tunnel, she must have just dreamed up everything, convinced herself that the shadows and the old statues were actually spirits, sentient beings who could speak and feel. All that she knew was that it had been eight years, and if she hadn't found the answers by now, then she never would, so there was no good in constantly fixating on it.

After what seemed like an eternity of wandering through the forest, the group drew to a halt. They'd walked far enough downhill to have arrived at the little off-road path that Chihiro knew so well – it was the same shortcut her father had used (or tried to, anyway) to get to their house the day they'd first moved here. Sure enough, the shrines that had fascinated her back then – even now, to her eighteen-year-old mind, they still looked like cute little houses – still stood in a neat little row now, though time had weathered them and left them covered in moss and leaves. Awestruck, Chihiro was the first to step forward, sinking to her knees to brush away the grime and debris.

 _If there really are spirits in this place_ , she thought, _I have to be sure and give them their respect_.

"Hey, Chihiro," called Mei from over her shoulder. She rose slowly to her feet and looked back questioningly as her friend continued, "Do you . . . know this place or something?"

Chihiro frowned, teetering for a moment between how precisely she wanted to choose to answer that question. "I . . . I've been here before, when I was little," she said at last. "If we keep walking down that way –" here she paused just long enough to point off to the right, "I can't remember exactly, but I think there's a little clearing there where we could stop and rest for a little while."

Her friends nodded in agreement, and Ari piped up, "We might as well. It _is_ kind of creepy down here."

"How exactly did you know about these shrines, anyway, Takeshi?" said Mei, looking more bemused than nervous. That figured – Mei had always been more of a thrill-seeking type.

Takeshi shrugged, jutting out his lower lip for a moment or two as he considered it. "I dunno, I was just wandering around here one day and almost tripped over 'em," he explained. "They were so covered in leaves and gunk that I couldn't see them at first. But they _are_ kinda weird little things, aren't they? I wonder who they're supposed to represent."

Despite the nagging feeling that she should know this, Chihiro shook her head and muttered, "No idea. But I wish someone would keep them a little cleaner. They're obviously important to someone, or they wouldn't still be here after so long."

"Let's go, you guys," Ari piped up, reminding Chihiro eerily of just how scared she'd been as a young girl when she'd seen this place, and her parents had wanted to explore further inside. _That was when I found the spirit world – no, that was when I got lost inside and_ imagined _everything._ "Where was that place you were talking about, Chihiro?"

Snapping back to attention, she blinked and moved away from the shrines completely now, heading in what she felt was the proper direction. "Um . . . this way, I think," she concluded, waving her hand behind her back to indicate for her friends to follow her. "Come on, guys."

Wordlessly, they moved together through the forest, following the winding dirt path until at last it trailed off into the clearing, just as she'd expected all along. Yet, as she stepped through the trees and drew closer to her destination, she gasped, surprised by what she found. There before her, standing massive and imposing like the gaping maw of a massive lion, was the very tunnel she'd gotten lost behind all those years ago, still looking as forlorn and empty as always. She had completely forgotten that it was right here, and seeing it after all this time left her jarred, unnerved, standing as tense as though she'd had a bucket of ice dumped down the back of her shirt. Leaves skittered along the ground at her feet, drawn to the opening of the tunnel as though it were breathing, itself, drawing them into its lungs. _It's like it's pulling us in_ , she couldn't help but think, amazed into silence.

"Whoa," said Mei just off to her right, and when Chihiro looked over to face her, she could see that her friend's eyes were wide with astonishment. "I wonder where that thing leads to."

Chihiro's stomach was in knots, as though it were a pit of vipers. "I . . . don't know," she forced herself to say, though she had the distinct feeling that, in fact, she _did_. "Maybe it's been filled in on the other side. It looks way too deep to see where it opens up again."

To her surprise, even Mei seemed to hesitate. "Well . . . maybe we shouldn't take a chance on it," she reasoned, taking the slightest step back. "There's been a lot in the news lately about teens disappearing – being taken away – maybe that's where . . . " her voice trailed off, unable to finish the sentence, but Chihiro got the message loud and clear, and somehow couldn't bring herself to agree.

"N-no," Chihiro answered, with the slightest shake of her head. "No, I think this place is safe."

"What makes you so sure of _that_?"

Rather than respond, Chihiro paused and allowed the silence to settle in. To be completely frank, she wasn't at all certain of how she knew – she just did. There was no possible way she could explain this to Mei, though, or even Ari or Takeshi, who had always been even more impulsive and prone to rely on instinct than she. Instead, she simply stepped forward, swallowing hard and staving off her apprehensions; if there were ever a time to take this chance, it had to be now. She would leave tomorrow for school, after all, and would never get another opportunity to find out for sure what lied beyond that tunnel; once and for all, she would finally get to know if the dream had been real all along.

"Wait here for a minute," she told Mei, still staring, transfixed, at the tunnel. "I want to get a closer look, okay?"

At this, Ari darted forward, having been standing off to the left the entire time. "Are you crazy, Chihiro?" she cried. "There's no telling what's on the other side of that thing!"

"I'll be careful," she reassured her friend, doing her best to at least maintain her composure for this long. "I just – I'm curious about something. If I take longer than five minutes, just come in and try to look for me. I won't go far."

Without waiting for her friends to respond, she moved forward, edging closer to where the tunnel began, trying her utmost to keep from shivering as the chilly breeze wafted over her exposed skin. Clenching her hands into tight fists at her sides, she lifted her chin and continued to walk, until at last she crossed over from the dirt road onto the tunnel's cobblestone pathway, the darkness washing over her like a particularly strong wave. Already, she had scarcely taken two steps and the wind seemed to change; the air seemed almost charged with an electrical sort of energy, lifting the soft hair at the back of her neck and breaking her arms out in gooseflesh. For a moment, she paused, glancing over her shoulder, but she could no longer see Ari, Mei, or Takeshi on the other side. Her heart jumped in her throat, panic immediately shooting through her veins.

"H-hey . . . guys?" she called back, but the only answer she received was the sound of her own voice echoing against the tunnel's plaster walls. After a second's pause, she took a deeper breath and decided to try again, louder this time. "Ari! Mei! Takeshi! Are you still there?"

Just like the first time, her response was only the noisy howling of the wind as it rushed through the tunnel, her only companion . . . for now, anyway. Fear rose like bile in the back of her throat, but she refused to crumble to pieces already; she wasn't lost, and for all she knew, her friends just couldn't hear her, as far into the tunnel as she'd gone. She would simply have to keep moving forward, just long enough to take a look and get the answers she'd yearned for all this time. There was nothing to lose, so long as she remained calm and careful. Strengthening her resolve, she nodded to herself and continued moving forward, until at last, she could see the tunnel begin to open up on the other side. She quickened her pace until all she could hear was the sound of her rubber soles slapping against the ground, and before she knew it, she exited the tunnel and strode right into a beautiful meadow, stretching as far as the eye could see.

 _Just like the one I remembered_ , she found herself thinking, and for the first time it dawned on her that perhaps it wasn't her imagination, perhaps she'd been right all along.

She took another tentative step forward, and only then did she notice that there was someone standing not ten feet away from her – a boy, his gaze intently fixed onto hers.

And she screamed.


	2. Chapter Two: The Boiler Man

In an instant, the boy was right in front of her, each movement sharp and fluid as he clapped one hand over her gaping mouth, silencing the terrified yelp tearing itself from the back of her throat. His brow furrowed in concentration, he swept a cold, studious gaze over her face, and suddenly she felt as if she were not being looked straight through but directly _into_ , as if he could plainly see all her secret thoughts and desires and was currently analyzing which ones to use to his advantage. Chihiro's eyes widened and she drew in a quick breath from her nose as her gaze locked with his, two harsh gray-green rings of surprising depth surrounding dark, intelligent pupils; what startled her most of all was not the striking color nor the intensity behind it, but the fact that they seemed so _familiar_ to her.

"Don't move," he said, his voice a low murmur that matched the controlled, nearly stern manner in which he held himself. "And keep quiet."

After a few moments, his stare became not frightening, but watchful, his intimidating glare softening to something more inquisitive than before. A chill meandered down her spine. Slowly, he lifted his hand away from her mouth, and Chihiro became very aware of its absence, the warmth of his touch replaced by a delicate afternoon breeze. In spite of this apparent relaxation on his part, he did not back away, instead remained where he stood before her, his stance guarded and wary, every muscle in his body visibly tense. The sheer unwavering force of his gaze stirred up unease within her; the way he was staring at her, as though she were an old friend who had gone away for a very long time, made her wonder if he possibly had her mistaken for someone else.

For the first time, Chihiro got a good look at him, and as she drank in his appearance, she couldn't shake the distinct feeling that these details were not new to her. He appeared to be about her age, perhaps a year or two older, and was tall and lean, his height and build emphasized by the traditional Japanese tunic and pleated pants in which he was dressed. His hair was inky-black and meticulously cut into a sloping bob, with bangs that swept across his forehead in a neat line. From somewhere deep within her, a swell of emotion rose up, and suddenly Chihiro felt her throat closing with an overwhelming urge to cry; she took a shuddering breath, chasing the unwelcome onslaught of emotion away, but the feeling that she'd seen this boy before still lingered, unshakable.

"I'm sorry for that," he spoke up again, and she couldn't help but notice how smooth and easy his voice was, like a river in the middle of a quiet forest. "It was the only way to keep from attracting undue attention. I'd like to avoid anyone else learning of your presence here, if it's at all possible," elaborated the boy, chancing a quick look over his shoulder before focusing his sights on her once again. Something close to the beginnings of a smile tugged at the corners of his mouth, and the warmth it brought to his eyes shocked her. "Chihiro," he greeted, sending her stomach into knots. "It has been some time, hasn't it?"

Immediately defensive, Chihiro stumbled a step back, nearly tripping over a small boulder in her path as she did so. "Wh-what?" she stuttered lamely. "I-I'm really sorry, but – but I think you have the wrong person. I don't think we've ever met before," she confessed, hating it when the briefest instance of hurt flickered across his face before his countenance resumed its typical mask of calm. "How did you know my name?"

Rather than answer her many inquiries, the boy frowned and muttered, half to himself, "Something is very wrong." In the prolonged silence that followed, he swept another thoughtful glance over her, seemingly mulling over what he ought to do next. At last, he deigned to address her once again, saying, "Never mind. It has been very good to see you again, Chihiro, but if you're having difficulties remembering this place, then we need to return you to your home as quickly as possible."

Something in his tone of voice as the last sentence left his lips sent tiny pinpricks of fear all throughout her body. His words were calm and reasonable enough, but there was a thinly-veiled urgency flowing throughout each of them that caused her to wonder if getting back home truly would be as simple as he made it sound. Had she gotten into trouble for ambling into a place where she wasn't supposed to be? She hadn't had any idea that there was anything dangerous on the other side – especially since her parents had always told her that the stories she remembered from her time here as a child were all just her imagination. Could she really have dreamed up somewhere as horrible – as wonderful – as that? It didn't seem as if she would get her answer, not today, but at least this boy was going to help her get back home where she belonged.

Half feeling as though she'd done something she ought to be scolded for, Chihiro gulped and responded, "I-I'm sorry! I-I didn't know that there was anything on the other side of this tunnel. My friends and I were taking a walk through the woods, and I ended up here. I can go back. I didn't mean to intrude or anything."

The boy did not say another word, simply watched as Chihiro gathered her courage and turned around to face the open maw of the tunnel once again, the chill of the air flowing inside whipping lightly against her cheeks. She narrowed her eyes against the glare of the sun, but even without an obstructed view, she couldn't entirely see through to the other side. The darkness of the tunnel seemed to stretch on forever, with no clear exit in sight. Her stomach dropped, and she bit her lip to keep herself calm; hopefully, Ari, Takeshi, and Mei had stayed on the other side like she'd asked, and would go get help or come looking for her themselves if she took too long to get back. _Everything will be okay_ , she told herself. _It has to be_.

If she were being completely honest with herself, she found that she was the slightest bit reluctant to leave the boy behind. Mysterious and aloof though he appeared to be, she couldn't help but think that he seemed lonely, too, and the way he'd spoken of her company – as if he'd waited for her to visit all this time, and at last, she'd arrived – gave her the feeling that he hadn't had someone to confide in for a long time _. But I have friends of my own_ , she reminded herself, _and a family who cares about me. I've got to get back_. Still, even as this thought crossed her mind, she resolved to return here someday, and perhaps check on the boy, and see if there were anything she could do to help him.

At last, Chihiro strode forward towards the mouth of the tunnel, not daring to look back should she change her mind. However, she only made it to the very edge, where the grass from the meadow disappeared and the cobblestone pathway of the tunnel began, before she was stopped dead in her tracks; though she could see nothing but air in front of her, it felt as if she'd just collided with a thick glass windowpane. She staggered backward from the force of impact, struggling to keep from falling straight on her butt, and stared in bewilderment and increasing panic at the entrance to the tunnel. Adrenaline coursing through her, she rushed forward with her arms extended, but again, her hands only made contact with the same invisible wall, and no matter how hard she pushed, whatever was barring her way would not budge.

"Huh?!" Chihiro lowered her trembling hands, wringing them anxiously before wheeling around to face the boy once again, who was observing her with steadily building concern in his eyes. "What's going on?" she cried, trying – and failing miserably – to keep her voice calm. "Why – why can't I get through?"

The boy stepped forward, eyes wide in a thunderstruck expression; his voice was deceptively cool and collected as he replied, "I'm . . . not sure. As far as I'm aware, nothing has ever blocked that exit before. Don't worry," he added quickly, and oddly enough, this _did_ reassure her, "there must be some sort of alternate way around it."

She nodded shortly and trailed behind him as he wandered around the side of the cave, searching for some way around the seemingly-impassable wall. _Alright_ , Chihiro thought to herself in a desperate attempt to bring some sort of control to her frayed nerves, _it's okay. It's going to be okay. He's find an alternate way out. You'll get to go home and forget all about this._

And yet, the longer he delayed in finding a shortcut, the more her fears continued to blossom within the pit of her stomach, growing until they were so monstrous and heavy that she felt they might consume her from the inside-out. Even his certainty seemed to waver, his movements growing sharper and less calm by the second as, from every angle, they were repeatedly bounced back by that same impenetrable force. What had she done? All she'd wanted to accomplish through walking over to this side was just to prove some childhood fantasy correct, and now she'd gotten herself trapped here. And yet . . . at the same time, she couldn't help but wonder if this as a whole proved her right – after all, as far as she knew, invisible barriers were impossible, weren't they? What if this place really was filled with the magic she'd originally thought was here?

"There's no way through." The boy's voice sliced through the uncomfortable silence, confirming her worst apprehensions. She glanced just over her shoulder to where he stood, trying her best not to become frantic as she listened to what else he had to say. "I _will_ get to the bottom of this, Chihiro, I promise, but for now, I'm afraid you'll have to come with me. I know it's inconvenient, but you need someplace to rest until we figure out how to allow you to return home."

Chihiro folded her arms across her chest and took another wary step backward, hesitant to go with a stranger anywhere beyond this meadow. "Go with you where?" she asked, thankful that she at least sounded braver than she felt. "A-are you sure there's really no other way that I can get through the tunnel?"

In response to her pleas, he sighed and gave a rueful half-smile, eyes reflecting something that seemed to her to be strangely akin to sympathy. "If there were, then I would send you back through in an instant," he confirmed, tone of voice tinged with regret. "Here – take my hand, and I can lead you to someone who just may know how to fix this for you. Don't be afraid," he murmured, extending his hand for her to clasp onto. "I'm a friend."

She wasn't particularly certain of why, but for whatever reason, those last words were enough to convince her. Not for the first time since she'd arrived here, that same feeling that she'd met this boy before swept over her, almost compelled her to reach out and fling her arms around him in a tight embrace. She knew entirely well that she couldn't simply place her trust in any old stranger who happened to cross her path, but something about him was so distressingly familiar that she couldn't help but feel as if he had only the best intentions. If he was willing to show her kindness and help her get out of here, then she had to throw caution to the wind and simply hope for the best; it didn't look like there was anyone _else_ around here that could help her, after all.

"Oh . . . okay," Chihiro whispered, and, as if to punctuate her sentence, she reached out and placed her hand in his. The boy's fingers closed around hers, and in no time at all, they were off.

* * *

Their venture through the meadow brought them to a deserted-looking little village, the streets empty and silent, though the shop windows still pronounced their businesses as open and the marketplace vending stands still displayed a wide variety of fruits, vegetables, and enormously plump fish and chickens. The buildings were short and stout, many of them derelict, as though they hadn't been properly tended to in years. It was as if life here had one day suddenly just drawn to a halt, and there was nobody around to notice or care, so everything had just been left in a permanent standstill. It was distinctly eerie, like being in a ghost town from the movies, and though Chihiro tried to swallow her nerves, the nearly-imperceptible tightening of her hand around her companion's gave away the truth of her emotions.

 _I remember this place_ , she realized as they walked deeper into the tiny town. _This was where my parents and I decided to have that picnic, and then we got separated. They found me wandering around here._ That was what they'd always told her, anyway. Something about that didn't feel quite right, but she decided not to give it much thought at the moment. Most likely, it was just her jangled, panicked nerves causing her imagination to overreact to a new and strange environment. It gave her the shivers, regardless.

"This place is so _creepy_ ," she noted out loud, looking for any excuse to cut through the uncomfortable quiet. "How much longer until we reach where we're headed, d'you think?"

The boy shushed her in response. "You need to keep your voice down," he reminded her, though not unkindly in spite of his sternness. "There are many here who would attempt to do you harm if they ever learned that you were here. I've placed a spell on you to keep them from noticing you, but if you make too much noise, it will break and the magic will not protect you any longer." There was a brief pause before he decided to quickly add in a low, conspiratorial voice, "We're not much farther from our destination, don't worry."

"Oh – sorry – I'm sorry," Chihiro replied in a hasty whisper, shoulders caving in sheepishly as she searched in the boy's clever eyes for any signs of forgiveness. Even so, a thought kept prickling at the back of her mind, and try as she might to hold it back, she couldn't resist. Careful to keep her voice as soft as possible, she tacked on hurriedly, "Um – I'll be quiet, but first I wanted to ask you . . . I never got your name."

With only a scarce little glance in her direction, the boy said, "You may call me Haku, if you like."

Some strange, barely detectable note in the undercurrent of his voice told Chihiro that he was still upset about earlier, when she had failed to recognize him in spite of the fact that he seemed to know her quite well. She had to admit, she felt guilty for how it seemed that she'd hurt his feelings, but at the same time, she didn't quite know whether to believe him or if he was simply deluded. After all, in the same breath that he'd told her that they knew each other, he'd talked about magic and invisible walls and other impossible, nonexistent things. Could this be just another dream, or had she wandered into something beyond her realm of understanding? As the minutes drew by, she was beginning to fear that it was the latter.

The boy – Haku – nudged her on the shoulder, and when she drew herself from her thoughts and back into the present, she realized that they had just walked over a modest little bridge and come to the entryway of what looked to be a gigantic, opulent bath house. Chihiro furrowed her brow, immediately bemused; he'd said that he was taking her to someone who could help her get home, but how could anyone at a bath house do anything about the tunnel that led here? She glanced over at Haku, wondering if he would make note of the fact that they seemed to be going the wrong way, but he seemed to know what he was doing – or at least, didn't show any signs of hesitating as the bath house pulled into view.

"I – uh – I don't think we're – " she began, forgetting the rule about keeping quiet, but her sentence didn't last long before Haku cut her off, anyway.

"Follow me," he interrupted, leading her around the right side of the bath house until they reached the back, where they were greeted by a rather sizable flight of stairs.

Chihiro gulped, instantly seized by her inherent fear of heights as she gazed down the steps, trying to see where the bottom was and only getting a little glance of an ant-tiny platform at the very end. The steps themselves were no comfort, either, rickety and wooden, and so aged that they had gone concave in the centers from years of being trodden upon. She edged forward and took a single tentative step, quickly reeling her foot back as the wood creaked noisily under her weight. _Okay, there's no_ way _I'm walking down these things_ , she thought, but just as she opened her mouth to protest, Haku spoke up with further instructions.

"Chihiro," he said, pointing down in the direction of the sloping staircase to where they reached their end, "do you see the door at the far end of the steps? It's very small, and off to the side. It leads to the boiler room – that is where we need to go next." Only now did he look over at her, and, sensing her apprehension, gave her the barest hint of a smile. "They're far sturdier than they look. I imagine they've carried much heavier than you over the years without so much as a splinter. Just stay calm and you'll be fine."

With a nod of her head, she gingerly pressed her left foot down on the first step once more, deciding to try again, more cautiously this time. Haku followed her and slowly, patiently, they made their descent. The trip was relatively simple and went without incident, save for a few occasions in which the stairs groaned in protest and threatened to snap beneath Chihiro's feet, alarming her more than anything else. For some reason, she couldn't shake the feeling that these steps had broken before, and so as she continued to make her way down, she did so as carefully as possible, even if it slowed down her movements by a considerable amount.

At last, they reached the bottom, and she let out a sigh of relief, her footing somewhat shaky as she all but galloped off the last few stairs. If Haku was amused by her antics, he didn't let it show as he moved forward and tugged open the door to the boiler room, gesturing for her to go first through the open space on the other side. Even from where she stood, she could feel the warmth of the boiler room billowing out into the evening air; what sort of person worked in there, she wondered, and how on Earth would they know anything about getting her home? Rather than get bogged down in her questions and doubts, however, she crawled through the tiny door, and knew Haku had followed behind when she heard it shut after them.

The ambiance of the boiler room did nothing to help her nerves; the sounds of squealing, churning metal and puffing bellows filled her ears, setting her on edge, but Haku's placid and unshakable presence at her side was help enough in calming her down. They headed quietly down a narrow hallway, towards an orange glow in the distance that alerted her to the fact that the boiler room must begin there. Sure enough, when they turned the corner, the corridor opened into a wide room, where a fire was burning and what appeared to be little balls of soot were hurrying along a long wooden plank, carrying bricks of coal and dumping them into the crackling flames. The change in temperature was almost immediate and definitely noticeable; within seconds, Chihiro felt beads of sweat prickle up on the back of her neck, as if she had just stepped into a furnace.

"Well, now. You're back, are you?"

Chihiro gave a start, only now noticing the person – or, rather, the creature – manning the mechanics of the room, who had just spoken up . . . though to her or to Haku, she couldn't be sure. He appeared to be a humanoid spider-monster, with long, arachnid-esque arms that busily bustled around, taking care of what she could only assume were all his own responsibilities. He was bald, and his face was bunched up in a perpetual look of disapproval and concentration, his mouth covered by a bushy brown mustache. He didn't even look up as Chihiro and Haku edged into the room, merely continued spinning the myriad of wheels and gadgets that surrounded his workspace.

"I – uh – " Chihiro turned to Haku for approval, knowing that he'd said earlier that he'd put a spell on her to keep her from being noticed. Could it be that his magic had worn off, or was this person simply strong enough to see past it? Either way, she still wasn't certain if she were allowed to make any noise yet, and didn't want to risk getting herself in further trouble.

Haku gave her a quick, barely-there nod before directing his attention to the stranger. "Yes, but don't get too attached; it would seem that she has no memories of this place. And in any case, she's only trying to return home; something has trapped her here, Kamaji."

"Hmm?" Kamaji inclined his head in their direction, cocking it to the side pensively as he gave the two of them a quick once-over before concluding, "You don't say. That _is_ curious."

"Indeed it is," replied Haku, and Chihiro thought she detected a hint of impatience in his voice as he did. "And I brought her to you under the assumption that you would be able to be of _some_ assistance . . . ?"

Kamaji seemed more entertained by Haku's annoyance than threatened, a prospect which admittedly confused Chihiro, who had been stunned into silence by nearly everything the boy had said to her since they'd met up only a short time ago. All the same, he still seemed to concede to Haku's request, and, focusing his attention on her now, extended one of his arms to a baffling length until he was able to place his hairy palm flat on her forehead. His touch was surprisingly cool, for someone who worked in the boiler room, of all places.

"Well, the problem with her memories is easy enough to pick out," he said after a moment's pause. "It looks like she's had a memory block placed on her."

"What?" Haku replied, and that singular syllable was far sharper than anything else she'd heard him say this whole time. His eyes were ablaze with a chilly light, his brow furrowed and casting a severe shadow across his face. "A _memory block_? By whom?"

Kamaji seemed to frown beneath the wiry hairs of his mustache. "I can't rightly tell," he sighed. "But it's been bestowed upon her by someone very powerful – the magic is nearly unbreakable."

"There was an invisible barrier in front of the tunnel that Chihiro tried to use to leave," Haku explained. "Do you think the same person who created that block could have tried to seal her inside the spirit world?"

Kamaji pondered this for what seemed like an eternity, then shook his head, slowly, left to right. "No," he murmured at last, his voice resting low and gravelly in his throat. "To do so would be all but impossible. The memory block in her mind is powerful, yes, but no sorcerer alive is so gifted as to be able to close or open a new door in the veil between our world and the mortal world. My guess would be that it's the work of a different entity completely – or that it's a work of nature, not caused by any outside forces."

"Hmph," was Haku's only response to this.

Seeming rather unsatisfied with the answers he'd received here, he glanced off to the side for a moment or two, perhaps mulling over his options. Chihiro glanced silently between the two of them, wondering what on Earth was going on. A memory block? Did that mean that she actually had been here once, and simply couldn't remember what had happened? She didn't know whether the idea delighted or terrified her; she was right all along, and for that, she was grateful, but the thought of this completely different world existing right alongside her own unnerved her more than she could say.

"Chihiro," said Haku at last, successfully catching her attention. He looked as if a thought had only just occurred to him, eyes bright with imagined possibility.

"Y-Yes?" She looked up from where she had been restlessly kneading her knuckles, arching her eyebrows questioningly as she met the boy's gaze.

"Stay here for a while," he instructed, his voice terse and tight, but she could tell his anger was not directed at her. "Kamaji will keep you company. In the meantime . . . there's someone I believe I need to have a _talk_ with."

She would have agreed to his terms, anyway, but she was scarcely even given an opportunity to disagree or protest before he had spun quickly on his heel and disappeared around the corner, gone off to who knows where.


	3. Chapter Three: Warning

The bath house was particularly busy this afternoon after a recent influx of new visitors, but the higher one ascended throughout the building, the more the dense throngs of bustling workers and relaxing spirits alike began to dissipate and give way to empty rooms and silence. On the lower levels, steam perpetually hung thick and warm in the air, and the aromas of crisp, clean bath water and their most luxurious soaps; but with every floor, the scents and sights of the baths were gradually replaced by cool, dry air and the musty smell of old books. The upper floors were much darker, too, without the floor-to-ceiling windows that were spread so liberally throughout the levels below. It almost gave the impression that the bath house had once been two separate buildings that were stacked lazily atop one another without anyone bothering to give them both one similar appearance.

The highest level of the bath house was home to Yubaba's office, though rather than just occupying one room, the entire floor seemed to be devoted entirely to her interests. This was perhaps the most opulent of each of the floors, with walls painted an elegant shade of crimson and patterned with gold, lit only by a few scarce lamps strategically placed throughout the nearly endless halls. From this high up in the bath house, the noise from below could not reach, giving the entire floor a vast and almost eerie silence. Other than Yubaba herself, this area tended to stay virtually deserted; the bath house workers (understandably) made it a point to avoid being summoned to the witch's office in whatever possible way.

Unfortunately, for one bath house resident, a talk with the intimidating woman who hid behind those doors seemed unavoidable.

Haku strode briskly around the corner and entered the corridor that led to Yubaba's office, a thunderous expression on his face. In spite of his quick, furious gait, his movements remained almost completely silent, footsteps muffled by the soft velvet carpet beneath his feet. Still, he felt certain that the witch would know he was coming; though his contract with Yubaba had long ago ended, she still made a point of keeping a watchful eye on him, forever suspicious of his motives and plans. The shift in power between them following the cancellation of his contract was significant, and for that much, Haku was grateful – these days, she remained more fearful of him than inclined to threaten, and as a result, dealings with her usually went so much more smoothly.

All that aside, he intended to tell her exactly what he thought of her _handiwork_ this evening. It had been some time since he'd paid a visit to her office – it wasn't particularly what he would think of as something he wanted to do very often – but today, he found it completely necessary. The problem with Chihiro's memory had barely raised his suspicions from the moment she'd failed to recognize him just outside the tunnel, but the further they had traveled into the world, the more apparent it had slowly become that her failure to recall her time in the spirit world was not simply due to spending a long time away. Kamaji's discovery of the memory block placed upon her mind had only confirmed the steadily growing feeling of dread that had built up in his stomach all this time, and now, Haku intended to get to the bottom of it all.

He couldn't say that it shocked him; Haku had worked closely under Yubaba for years of his life, and by now, knew all too well just how conniving she could prove herself to be. With almost every curve she'd thrown at Chihiro eight years ago, the little girl had outsmarted her at every turn, and it would seem that the witch still hadn't recovered the shattered pieces of her pride ever since. Still, why continue to focus such a tremendous amount of energy upon her, even after she'd returned to the human world? Her vendetta against Chihiro wasn't necessarily surprising, but it _did_ puzzle him, and he thought it best to take care of everything while it was still in the early stages, before it could advance into something monstrous and troubling.

As he drew closer to the pair of enormous, oaken double doors that marked the entrance to Yubaba's office, Haku couldn't help but take note of the palpable change of energy in the air. In all his time as an apprentice for one of the most undoubtedly powerful witches in the realm, he'd learned all too well how to identify the presence of magical power – he felt it as an electrical charge in the atmosphere, tingling at the tips of his fingers – and her office was crawling with it. There was nothing she enjoyed quite so much as an opportunity to flaunt both her power and influence, he knew, and so even now, years later, it seemed nothing had changed in that respect.

In spite of his misgivings, Haku knew that this was something that needed to be accomplished. Keeping the urgency of the situation in mind, he drew a deep breath, squared his shoulders, and used the massive, heavy knocker in the center of the door to announce his arrival. Just as he had anticipated, it was only a matter of seconds before the wrinkled, livid face of the knocker became animated, blinking and snarling up at him as though it were a living, sentient being.

"You again?" came the gravelly rasp of Yubaba herself, using the door knocker as a temporary means of communication between the two of them. "What is it you want? I'm _busy_."

He'd expected as much from her. Hostility had always been an unspoken staple of their dynamic with one another, but ever since his contract had ended, it seemed that both finally had an excuse to express fully what they thought of each other – no holds barred.

Still, Haku remained as carefully reserved and calm as ever as he answered, "Open the door, Yubaba." The words were spoken simply enough, and yet they fell from his lips clipped and cold, not a polite request, but a demand. "I need to speak with you; and don't worry, I have every intention of making myself brief." As if he would _ever_ purposefully stay in her office for any longer than completely necessary.

There was a short pause, during which Yubaba seemed to be weighing her options. Even the knocker that bore her likeness furrowed its brow in concentration, though it looked no less thrilled by the prospect of compromise than the real Yubaba likely would be. It was a relief, he couldn't help but think – certainly not for the first time – that he no longer had to answer to her. She was threatened by his presence, knew of his power and his ability to deceive, and as a result, tended to be much more compliant these days. Haku had every intention of ending this as quickly and painlessly as possible, but in order to gain her attention, he didn't necessarily want to make mention of that right away.

" . . . _Fine_ ," Yubaba all but growled, just when the silence was beginning to persist a touch too long. "Come in – but make it quick, or I'll have you thrown out."

No sooner had the last syllable hit his ears than did the doors swing open, revealing another winding hallway – and several other sets of doors falling open far inside. This corridor was even more poorly-lit than the one that he'd traversed before it, with scarcely a single wall lamp to light the way. Still, Haku stepped forward, determined to remain completely relaxed – it was easier to hide oneself in the dark, easier to lie. Easier to pretend as though he were anywhere else in the world than here.

After what seemed like an eternity of navigating through endless hallways, Haku at last reached the archway that led into her office, hesitating only for a moment before walking inside. As he edged into the room, he took in the place's appearance, noticing almost immediately how distinctly cluttered it appeared. Yubaba, in spite of all her negative qualities, had always been remarkably thorough, and her office usually reflected her organized, _on-top-of-things_ sensibility. Today, though, it seemed that several books had tumbled from their spot on the shelves lined on the walls behind her desk, and were now strewn across the floor, a few pages torn and lying in crumpled heaps on the opposite side of the room. Expensive paintings hung crookedly in their places on the walls, some of the glass fronts cracked and protruding from their frames.

Haku could only guess as to what had happened here, but he assumed that it had something to do with Yubaba's young child, Boh. As an otherworldly being, himself, Boh aged much more slowly than human babies, and only recently had begun to hit his "Terrible Twos" phase; his tantrums had become much more frequent, and it seemed he'd developed quite the habit of toddling into Yubaba's office whenever he saw fit and wreaking havoc upon the place. Typically, the sight of Boh's devastating effects upon her office tended to amuse Haku, but today, he only found it as another annoyance. He needed to speak with Yubaba _now_ , and if she were too distracted by cleaning up her baby's mess, who _knew_ what sort of answers – if any – he could glean from her?

The sound of Yubaba's voice from the far-right corner of the room successfully grabbed Haku's attention. He glanced over to the source of the noise, where he found the bath house boss emerging from a set of patterned curtains that led into Boh's room, brushing her disheveled hair back into its usual strict, impossibly large bun as she went. "– Yes, of _course_ , sweetie pie –" she was saying, apparently not having registered Haku's presence yet. "Mommy just has some business to take care of, but she'll be back soon – mwah-mwah!" She wheeled around to face him at last, and immediately, the warmth and sugary-sweetness melted from her voice as she barked, " _Well_? What do you want? And snap to it! I'm in no mood to pander to you today, Haku."

Anger flooded through him, hot and impulsive, turning the green of his eyes hard and steely. For the first time, his façade of expertly-crafted calm broke just long enough for his thin mouth to curl into a contemptuous snarl. Even so, when he spoke, his tone of voice remained just as soft and unaffected as ever. "I was under the impression," he began, his words smooth but cold, "that we had reached a certain _understanding_ about Chihiro Ogino."

If his words struck any sort of nerve within Yubaba, she didn't let it show. "I have no idea what you're talking about," she responded, nimbly plucking a stray pencil out of her gravity-defying hair and using it to scrawl across a sheet of paper on her desk. "If I'd known you were going to barge in here just to waste my time, I would have kept the doors locked."

"Eight years ago, a girl came to your office to request a job," Haku elaborated, shoulders tense with the effort of keeping from completely losing his patience. "A human girl. Eventually, she found her parents and left the spirit world, but it would appear that she left at a price." He dared to advance a step forward, narrowing his eyes and scrutinizing her closely as he added, "Why have you placed a memory block upon her mind, Yubaba? What purpose could you _possibly_ have had to use your magic against her? You assured me she would leave with no harm done to her, and while I do know better than to trust your word alone, I do seem to recall that we had a _bargain_."

This seemed to succeed in catching the bath house boss' attention. Yubaba froze where she stood behind her desk, her hands rested flat on its surface, innumerable ostentatious rings on her splayed fingers glinting in the light of the nearby table lamp. Making a point of avoiding looking him directly in the eye, the witch drummed her glossy red nails against her desk, either using the precious silence to debate her options just one last time or purposefully forcing him to wait – either was equally possible. The tension between them was palpable; Haku wondered if she was trying to decide if it would be worth it to start another feud with him, especially now that he no longer answered directly to her.

At last, she acknowledged him, lifting her gaze so that their eyes met, a sandpaper-rough laugh tearing from the back of her throat. "Is that right? Well, now . . . as it so happens, I do remember _something_ like that." Wrinkled lips curving into a knowing smirk, Yubaba added, obviously relishing the moment, "I promised the girl that if she found her parents, she could go free. And she did. Without so much as a hair on her pretty little head coming to any harm, I might add." She advanced on him now, jabbing a thick index finger in his direction as she added, "But! I will be damned if I let her come back here as she chooses just to stir up trouble in my bath house! This is a place of business, and the last thing I need is her serving as a distraction again!"

Even as the words left her lips, Haku could scarcely bring himself to accept them. He knew Yubaba well, and had learned by now to recognize the subtle changes in her tone of voice. She had always had a commanding, generally loud disposition, but her voice always became higher-pitched when she was lying, and her movements gradually became more animated, as well. No, this was just another elaborate ruse, designed to trick him, pacify him so that he would turn around and walk out of her office, no further questions asked. He knew for certain now that she had indeed been the one to place the memory block upon Chihiro's mind, but her motivation still remained unclear. So long as that continued to prove unsolvable, they would never truly learn how to give Chihiro her memories back. Much as he loathed the very idea, Haku knew that he had to see his inquiry through to the end.

What sort of threat did Chihiro pose to Yubaba? Why on Earth would she have gone through all the trouble to place such a powerful spell upon the girl, especially when she had left the spirit world, presumably for good at the time? Only then, as he stared intently at the woman before him, did the truth begin to dawn on him.

"You're afraid," he stated calmly, simply, his voice just as casual as though he were discussing the weather. Only the barest hint of surprise in his tone betrayed the truth of his emotions. "You remember that Chihiro outsmarted you, and you're worried that if she knows what you did to her parents, she'll come back and try to usurp your position as the overseer of the bath house – or worse, you fear that she will help bestow that same position of power to _me_."

For a moment, Haku had the pleasure of seeing Yubaba look visibly stricken. After a beat of silence passed, she fought to rearrange the shock on her features into something more familiar to her – contempt – and snarled in response, "Don't start that! I'm _warning_ you, Haku – I won't have you bringing that slanderous garbage into my office!"

Gazing unflinchingly back at her, the dragon boy answered, every syllable icy cold, "Then consider _this_ a warning of my own: Tell me how to remove the block from Chihiro Ogino's memory, or perhaps I'll find it necessary to retaliate." He hardly ever used outright violence or threats to negotiate a point, found it barbaric and oftentimes overly cruel, but with Yubaba, ultimatums were the only bargaining tool to which she would answer, and thus he had to be a bit more forceful than usual.

Yubaba's nostrils flared and, huffing like a winded bull, she advanced around the side of her desk until she stood directly in front of Haku, leering up at him past the slope of her enormous nose. Though the sight alone was undoubtedly intimidating – much as he despised it, he knew that he couldn't entirely rid himself of old apprehensions, not yet – he made a purposeful endeavor to refrain from flinching, knowing that even the slightest display of weakness was enough to satisfy her. This still wasn't the angriest he'd ever seen her, after all, and he was willing to bet that if he played the situation correctly, he could diffuse the conflict between them before it had the chance to truly develop any further.

Just as she drew a breath to say something else, though, their conversation was interrupted by a tremendous crash, followed by a series of footsteps so heavy that Haku could feel the floor trembling beneath him. The rage on the witch's face changed to surprise, and when a loud wail issued forth from the direction of Boh's bedroom, she wheeled around and immediately scurried over.

"Now look what you've done," she hissed, only giving him a throwaway glance before disappearing into her child's playroom. He hardly had time to argue that it was likely _her_ screaming, not his own actions, that had woken up her baby before he heard her speak up again, this time obviously addressing Boh. "I'm here, Sweetie Pie! Ohhh, what is it? Poor little thing – were you sleeping? Oh, Mommy's so sorry for waking you up."

"Mama!" Boh cried from wherever he stood behind his curtain, still incredibly loud in spite of being completely out of Haku's line of sight. "Why is it so noisy in here?"

Instantly contrite, Yubaba answered, "W-well, Mommy just had some business to take care of, little one. Haku came to visit, so I have to talk about just a few things. But I promise it won't last long!"

This did not seem to mollify Boh, who only gave a long, despairing sob in response. There was a short but loud slamming sound, so forceful that it shook the few paintings still left hanging on the walls; Haku could only presume that he was witnessing the beginning of the very worst sort of temper tantrum. "No!" the baby complained. "Make him go away, Mama! I wanna take a nap right _now_!"

"Now – dearest, you _know_ Mommy can't just do that," Yubaba cajoled, though her effort sounded halfhearted at best. "Just – ssh, shh, sweetie, and I'll go finish up in my office. Don't worry, we'll be _very_ quiet so you can sleep."

A few seconds passed in silence before Yubaba walked back into her office, a few flyaway strands of hair coming out of its bun, but otherwise relatively unharmed. She gave a weary sigh and plucked a pen from the surface of her desk, sitting down and scrawling what looked like instructions or a recipe of some sort on a sheet of crumpled paper. Haku supposed he ought to count himself lucky; it would seem that she had given in, and he couldn't necessarily blame her when dealing with Boh.

"Here," she said, once again defeated by her child's persistence. "You'll need a restorative draught to give the girl back her memories," she explained, resting her chin on the heel of her hand and lazily sending the sheet of paper floating towards Haku once she had completed filling it out. He caught it in midair and lowered it to examine for himself as she said, "I've listed all the ingredients you'll need. All of them can be found here, though I won't tell you where. Now, get out of my office, before I change my mind, Haku."

Haku furrowed his brow and gave a short, quick nod, tightening his grip on the paper. He supposed that the issue of the memory block had been solved for now, yet one problem still persisted in his mind. "Before I go, I'm afraid I've one more question to ask of you."

"Oh – yes, yes – _what_ , already?" she hurriedly snapped in response, exasperation oozing from every syllable. "Haven't you wasted enough of my time?"

Paying her objections no heed, he responded, "When I attempted to return Chihiro to her home earlier today, there was an invisible barrier over the tunnel that would not allow her to pass through. Was that your doing, as well?"

This caught Yubaba's attention. Perking up from where she'd previously been sinking into the chair behind her desk, she gasped, "What are you _talking_ about? Of course I'd never do something so completely foolish! Why in the world would I want that spoiled brat of a little girl traipsing around in the spirit world?"

Haku found that he was satisfied with her answer. Though it was in Yubaba's nature to be cunning and deceitful – particularly wherever he was concerned – he could hear the truth ringing through her voice, and it did make sense, in any case. Her biggest concern was keeping Chihiro out of the spirit world – hence, the block she'd placed upon her memories. That begged the question, though, of what _had_ caused the barrier to appear, if not her magic.

That much, he supposed, he would have to figure out for himself.

* * *

Chihiro had considered the idea of staying in the boiler room without Haku to be the slightest bit unsettling at first, but as the minutes dragged on, she found herself continually discovering that Kamaji was certainly entertaining company to keep. Actually, for the most part, she'd just tried to stay out of his way; he looked like an incredibly busy man, always firing on all cylinders, and she didn't want to intrude upon any important work. So she'd found a place to sit just off to the side, careful to keep her feet out of the way of the little soot balls as they dutifully carried their lumps of coal from one end of the room to the fire stoked on the opposite side. They were much stronger than they looked, and terribly cute, and to pass much of the time, she'd simply watched them scurry about.

"What _are_ these little guys?" Chihiro asked, resting her chin lightly against her knees. "How did you get them to carry those rocks like that?"

If she were being completely honest, it distressed her that she even had to ask. Her thoughts kept returning to the discovery Kamaji had made – the memory block that apparently had been draped like a veil over her mind. She wasn't entirely sure if she believed it or not yet; the possibility remained that all this could just be an elaborate dream, brought on by little more than her anxieties about going away to college. And yet, in spite of the fact that she couldn't remember this place, something about it felt painfully familiar, like she'd always been searching for it and it had remained out of reach until now. If there were a memory block on her mind, it would certainly explain why she couldn't shake the feeling that she'd been here before. Haku with his distant but gentle guidance, the little black soot sprites, and even Kamaji the work horse felt as close to her as family, and she'd only just met them.

Well, actually, it would seem that she _had_ , once before. She just wished she could remember what had _happened_ . . .

"They're the susuwatari," said Kamaji at last, his gravelly voice bringing her out of her reverie and into the present. Pausing just a moment to hit a tiny hammer against the stone laid out before him, calling the sootballs to work, he cleared his throat and added, "They've been enchanted, in order to help me run this place. Not that the lazy good-for-nothin's are ever any use." At his last words, spoken in a dismissive grumble, a few of the soot sprites squeaked and immediately hurried over to collect more coal, as if determined to prove the boiler man wrong.

"Oh." They certainly seemed hardworking enough to Chihiro, but she wasn't about to contest it. Instead, she thought it best to ask, "Kamaji?"

"Yeah?"

Now that the opportunity had been presented for Chihiro to express what was on her mind, she almost wasn't sure if she actually wanted to say it aloud. What if this was just an incredibly vivid dream, and nothing more? Wouldn't she feel foolish when she awoke, for investing so completely in something that was not and never would be real? Still, at the same time, she couldn't take the risk; if she really had been here once, she had to know what had happened to her, and had to understand what everyone here meant to her.

Swallowing hard past her apprehensions, she finally said, "Haku . . . when we met outside the tunnel, he looked at me like he knew me. And this whole time, he's been acting like I'm supposed to recognize him, too. Did we . . . meet the last time I came here?"

Strangely enough, Kamaji seemed more amused by her question than anything else. With a gruff laugh, he answered, "You could say that. Why, as a matter of fact –"

He didn't get to complete his sentence before the door to the boiler room creaked open, noisily announcing the arrival of none other than Haku, who looked irritated and windswept but none the worse for wear. Chihiro leapt up from her seat beside the soot sprites, hurrying across the room to meet him where he stood nearby the turning wheels of Kamaji's contraption. His facial expression was stony and aloof, but as she drew nearer to him, his gaze focused on her and something in his countenance softened just by a fraction.

"Chihiro," he said, a strange, sad sort of pity in his eyes, "how would you feel about staying here for a while?"


	4. Chapter Four: The Dragon Boy

The question hit Chihiro like a freight train, spoken with the kindest of intentions and yet somehow managing to be the most painful thing she'd heard all day. When she'd first seen Haku return from wherever he'd gone to talk with . . . well, whomever he'd wanted to speak to, her heart had practically leapt into her throat in mingled anxiousness and excitement. She'd counted on him to bring this whole nightmarish event to an end – actually, half of her was still convinced that this was all just an elaborate bad dream as a whole – and now it seemed like it was only going to get worse from here. She knew that she couldn't blame him for what was happening, and yet, part of her couldn't help but feel her stomach sink all the way to her shoes in disappointment, the panic and fear that had subsided for a short time during the mysterious boy's absence now returning full-force within her.

Stay here? She couldn't possibly do that, not when she was supposed to leave for college tomorrow! What would happen to her friends, or her parents? Would they wake up tomorrow morning, stricken with terror when their daughter still never came home, or would her being trapped here cause them to forget about her entirely? If someone had really put a block on her own memory, then maybe it was possible for Mom and Dad to lose all recollection of her, too. Even Chihiro could feel the effect the place was beginning to have on all her memories of home; her mother and father's faces stood out clearly in her mind (what a relief) but Takeshi, Ari, and Mei were fuzzy at best. If Haku were asking her to stay a little longer, then surely it couldn't be dangerous, and yet she got the distinct feeling that being here for too long would only be bad for her.

And beyond even the obvious issues, this place _frightened_ her. Apparently, she had been here before, long ago, but it still felt as though she were seeing everything for the first time, and therefore she couldn't feel more lost. The bath house was undoubtedly beautiful – magnificent and regal, a worthy display of honor and reverence for the myriads of important spirits who (according to Kamaji) were as old as the world itself. For all its loveliness, though, some of the spirits she had seen in just her short time here were completely gruesome-looking, and not to mention Haku had said earlier that there were people here who would want her put in harm's way if they ever discovered her. How could she stay any longer, when just a short time ago, Haku had been worried that she may not even survive long enough to get to the bath house at all without being detected?

Only now did it occur to her that this entire ordeal might just have been a complex, well-planned trick from the very beginning. The invisible barrier in front of the tunnel had felt real and impenetrable enough, but who was to say that the boy didn't simply enchant it to keep her from going through, then lie to her about all of it? What if he'd led her here under the promise that he would grant her the help she needed to get home, only to trap her here for eternity? That seemed rather like something a spirit – or a demon _posing_ as something benevolent – would do. Cursing herself for her own stupid shortsightedness, Chihiro stole a quick glance over her shoulder; if she ran for it now, perhaps she could make it back to the tunnel before any of these creatures caught up to her. Clever though they may be, she could work her way out of this.

For a moment, she felt as though she may go through with it, and yet, all that dissolved when she chanced another look and met Haku's gaze. There was a definite chilly aloofness to the manner in which he held himself, even with only Chihiro and Kamaji as his company, but she couldn't help but feel compelled by what lied beneath the surface. As she searched his calm, even expression for any clue as to what he might be thinking, his unnervingly bright green eyes never once wavered from her own. They shone with a frigid light, and even so, underneath all that she noticed a strange sort of patience, of _earnestness_ that almost seemed reserved only for her. She didn't precisely know how it was that she could be certain of this, but she had to conclude that he wasn't lying to her. He wasn't capable of that – not where she was concerned, anyway.

 _We knew each other before_ , Chihiro thought, remembering what Kamaji had just started to tell her before Haku had returned. _He still remembers me, even though I must've been gone for years. I just wish I could remember him . . ._

Kamaji cleared his throat, breaking the prolonged silence between the three of them, and with a start she realized that both he and Haku were now looking at her, near-identical expressions of curiosity painted across their faces. Oh, that was right – they still wanted an answer as to whether or not she'd be staying with them. As if she truly had a choice in the matter.

Chihiro took a deep breath to steady herself, squaring her shoulders in order to keep up her nerve. "I-I'm really sorry," she said at last, surprised that she could even still find it within herself to argue, as exhausted as this entire event had left her. "But I just can't stay. I've gotta go back – my parents, they'll be looking for me, and I've got to leave for school first thing tomorrow morning!" Even now, she could hear urgency bleeding its way into her voice, and she nearly cringed at the realization of how fearful and childish she sounded. "Isn't there any other way to get through that tunnel, or just go around it? I've _got_ to get home!"

Haku stepped forward, reaching out and taking her hand in his own; his touch was notably cooler than her own palm, which was currently sticky and warm with sweat and stray dirt from the boiler room. It was so strange, she noticed, how having him there beside her almost instantly managed to assuage even the greatest of her fears. The way he looked at her, as if they were the only two people in the entire room, was comforting – it made it easier to speak with _some_ degree of coherence what was on her mind, and remain confident that he wouldn't find her completely witless for anything she said.

"I know you're frightened, Chihiro," he murmured at last, addressing her in a low, patient voice, quite a far cry from the authoritative tone he'd taken with Kamaji earlier. "But you have nothing to fear. This is only a temporary solution; and I promise you, when you are able to return home, your school, your friends, and your parents will all still be there, waiting for you as if you never left."

She furrowed her brow, both set at ease by his words and left the slightest bit unnerved all at once. "I . . . don't understand. How long am I supposed to stay here? Y-you're not trying to keep me here _forever_ , are you?"

Some sort of foreign emotion flitted across Haku's visage – amusement, perhaps. "Of course not. You can rest assured that the minute we figure out how to get you around that barrier, I will take you there myself and see that you return to the other side." He glanced back over his shoulder, and when he spoke again, it was clear that he was now addressing Kamaji as well as Chihiro. "I spoke with Yubaba," he said, "and while she could give me no news on the barrier, she did say that she knows of a way we might give Chihiro back her memories."

"Yubaba?" Chihiro piped up, glancing between the two of them. "Who's that?"

"A powerful witch," Haku responded, turning back to her if only for a moment, "and it would appear that she took it upon herself to place that spell upon your mind. That's the reason why you can't remember this bath house – but that can all be resolved soon enough. What I'm more concerned with is the appearance of that wall that kept you from going home."

Chihiro nodded; that made two of them.

Still, she would be lying if she said that some part of her wasn't relieved that there would be a way to regain her memories of this place, as well. All this time, she'd felt as though she were struggling to locate a missing puzzle piece, and nothing that she'd found yet had managed to quite fit the void she sought to fill – it was encouraging as well as nerve-wracking to learn that there was a way to restore what had been taken from her. She'd lived eight years of her life thinking that the story she'd imagined up as a ten-year-old girl was just that – a story. Now, to finally have confirmation that it was all real, to at last be able to regain what she'd thought she'd lost so long ago, was a prospect both thrilling and terrifying. Was she better off without those old memories filling up her mind? What would happen to her – what would change about her – when she got them back?

Kamaji jostled forward in his seat, a few discarded bowls that once held soup and noodles clattering together and startling Chihiro out of her reverie. "Haku," the boiler man gasped, as though he'd only just remembered something terribly important, "I think I might have an idea. You don't think that barrier has anything to do with . . . _the Veil_ , do you?"

There went yet another term tossed around today that Chihiro didn't know. It came as a consolation, though, to see that Haku appeared to be just as puzzled as she. Though, it didn't seem likely that he wouldn't know what Kamaji was talking about; just in the time that she'd known him already, he struck her as a person who got down to business quickly, and always had the right answer for even the most complex problems. He'd helped her this far, after all, and had preserved right alongside her even when he seemed stumped, himself. It was starting to seem as though this problem wasn't quite as easily-solved as he would like her to believe.

"N . . . no, I don't think so," he concluded at last, only the slightest note of hesitance making itself known in his tone of voice. "I can't say for certain, of course, but with the fragile state it's been in lately, one would think the problem would actually be the _opposite_ if it were the Veil." He seemed completely uncomfortable with knowing so little about the situation at hand, his brow furrowed so severely that Chihiro wondered if there would be a notch between his eyes if his expression ever relaxed. "I'll just have to give it some thought on my own," he sighed, as weary as he'd ever sounded.

Chihiro frowned, the exhaustion in his voice leaving her feeling inexplicably guilty. "I-I'm sorry," she stammered, regaining the attention of both Haku and Kamaji. "You – you don't think that maybe it was something that _I_ did that messed up the tunnel, do you? I didn't mean to break anything . . ."

Upon hearing this, Haku's facial expression softened considerably, the harsh glint in his green eyes turning to something decidedly more comforting than before. The shift was certainly a welcome one; not for the first time – and, she suspected, not for the last — she found herself reveling in the sheer familiarity of those eyes, and how unequivocally _safe_ she felt whenever she looked into them. Even the smallest change had an enormous effect, and Chihiro was all the more glad for it, as it was certainly better than anything else she'd experienced today.

"No, Chihiro," he reassured her. "None of this is your fault. You couldn't possibly have known not to come through the tunnel."

 _That's right_ , she thought, nodding her head slowly in response to his words, _I was only taking a walk through the woods with my friends. I never should have come here._

She swallowed hard, cursing herself mentally when the first telltale sting of tears prickled at the backs of her eyelids. She'd always been prone to frequent crying – even as a child, whenever she became overwhelmed, she had the tendency to curl up into a ball and sob – but as she'd grown into adulthood, she'd gotten better at keeping her instinct to panic under control. Whenever that choked-up feeling threatened to surface, she had gotten into the habit of biting her lower lip to keep the tears at bay, focusing instead on breathing long and slow, calming her racing mind. Now, the most comforting thought she could manage was Haku, standing so sure and steady right there before her; he wasn't crumbling, and neither could she.

"You must be tired," Haku said at last, thankfully breaking the silence and distracting her from the sudden swell of emotion rising in her chest. "Come with me – if you'd like, I'll show you to your room."

Chihiro blinked, bemused by the simplicity of the statement. "My room?" she repeated lamely. She didn't know what she'd expected; this was a bath house, not dilapidated old haunted building, no matter how much it felt like the latter.

A rueful smile touched the corners of her companion's mouth before his expression evened into its usual thoughtful, serious position. "You'll need a place to stay here while we figure out how to get you home," he said. "So long as my stealth magic continues to work, I can hide you among the other bath house workers until we can take you back through the tunnel – you can live alongside them without Yubaba ever even noticing."

"B-But," Chihiro stuttered, sensing an inherent problem with this plan, "won't any of the others see that I'm here with them? What if they tell Yubaba that I'm staying in the bath house?"

Kamaji piped up this time, speaking as he crawled back over to his usual position, where two bright red tokens were hanging in midair, suspended from long strands of thick purple ribbons. "I don't think you'll have to worry about that too much. Many of those bath house workers owe you a great debt for something you did for them a long time ago – they _are_ fickle, but not so much that they would betray someone to whom they owe their life."

 _Their life_? Chihiro raised her eyebrows, thrown by this; what had she ever done to save so many people, and was it truly so important that the bath house workers would still remember it, even now? She had to admit, it was enough to rouse curiosity within her, but just as she opened her mouth to ask questions, Haku took a step closer and once again reached for her hand, decisive in his every movement. For now, this conversation was over (and she supposed it was just as well – she _was_ exhausted, and likely wouldn't be able to make sense of anything Kamaji told her right at this second, anyway.)

"The important thing to remember is that there is nothing to fear," Haku interjected, his voice firm but not without its own kindness. As she tentatively placed her hand within his own, he added, "You survived this place once before, Chihiro; you are more than capable of doing it again." Yet, even as he spoke, there seemed to be a strange sort of regret in his eyes, as if he were thinking, _though I wish you didn't have to._ "Now, follow me – we need to get to your room while it's quiet, so you can settle in without being overwhelmed by everyone else."

"Okay," she said, giving him a short nod and trying her best to remain outwardly confident. "See you later, Kamaji – and thanks for your help!"

The wheezing bellows and hissing of steam and fire were the only response she got.

* * *

The room that Haku led her to was modest, but undeniably comfortable; it was wide and commodious, despite being sparsely decorated, and it appeared as though pains had been taken to save space wherever possible. What looked like little cubbyholes lined the wall just off to her left, where several drawers had been pulled out and varying layers of pink, white, and dark blue clothing were hanging out from the sides. Row upon row of blankets were spread out along the floor, so numerous that there was little to no space between each sleeping mat – she wondered which one would be hers. The wall along the far end of the room was adorned with floor-to-ceiling windows and a set of glass sliding doors. Through them, Chihiro could see the night sky, an inky black tapestry dappled with little white glints of starlight – she'd had no idea while down in the boiler room that so much time had passed, and couldn't help wondering if it was nighttime right now back at home, as well. She'd discovered this place just by walking through a tunnel, and yet it seemed so distant and disconnected from the rest of the world that she couldn't help but feel as though she'd entered a completely separate universe.

When she'd arrived, Haku had told her that they would have to part ways here, but that he would be back shortly and to get settled in while he was out. She'd agreed, secretly thankful to have a few moments alone in spite of all the day's fears that had been building up inside her; she'd been trying all this time to keep strong in front of him, so perhaps it would help to be able to get a little bit of that out of her system while she had the chance. Haku had already done enough for her today – the last thing she wanted to do would be to force him to worry over her some more.

So, while he was gone, she'd rummaged through the dresser drawers for a little while (anything to keep herself from completely breaking down all at once.) She figured that it would be easier to blend in if she had something to wear that resembled what the rest of the bath house workers wore – somehow she didn't think a dark red, paint-splattered university tee shirt and a pair of shabby blue jeans would be inconspicuous enough – but so far, everything she'd found was either massively oversized or far too small. Eventually, she'd settled upon the most suitable set of work clothes she could find, though the work pants were so baggy that she had to use two of the white ribbons around her midsection to keep them in place.

All the while that she remained alone in her room, she could hear the clamor from the lower floors, muffled and quiet, but still there. For some time, she'd simply crouched next to the little cubbies and pressed her ear to the floor, trying in vain to see if she could pick out any conversations in particular. Knowing that she'd been to this bath house before made the place more fascinating than horrifying; just like Haku said, if she'd been through it once, she could definitely do it again, and she couldn't help but be curious about the fantasy world she'd left behind all those years ago.

 _I was right_ , she'd thought with a begrudging, secretive little grin as she'd held her face to the wooden floor. _All along, everyone tried to tell me it was just my imagination, but it was real the whole time. It was real._

Eventually, it became too cramped to sit there, half-lying against the floor, so Chihiro had picked herself up and moved over to the window, where she noticed for the first time that the door didn't just lead out into another hallway, but onto an open-air balcony that overlooked a glossy, placid lake. She'd taken a deep breath, satisfied by how crisp and clean the night air felt to breathe, and had moved to sit down just at the edge, legs dangling over the side and protected by the sturdy wooden railing. As much as she'd been through today, right now, the bath house was bizarrely . . . _peaceful_. It certainly would never be home to her, but it was as close to comfortable as she'd felt all day.

The sound of the sliding door being opened and shut should have alerted her to the presence of someone else on the balcony, but it was only until she heard a soft, "I see you've made yourself at home" that she perked up and turned around.

Sure enough, it was Haku, returning to her just as he'd promised. At first, she'd assumed that it was just another bath house worker coming back to their bedroom after finishing dinner; she was pleased to see that she was wrong in that respect. She had so many questions that she needed to ask him that had been buzzing around in her brain ever since coming to this strange place, and now it seemed they would finally be afforded at least a short time alone together. Even in the short time that she'd been acquainted with him, she'd discovered what a calming effect his presence always seemed to have upon her; it would be nice, after the day she'd had, to at least have his company for a little while.

"Haku," she greeted, watching as he strode slowly over to her side, his bare feet barely making a sound as they hit the wooden floor.

"Hello, Chihiro," was his greeting, quiet and curt but unfailingly polite.

He sank down next to her, first in a crouching position, then completely lowering himself onto the ground, tentatively allowing one leg to dangle forward off the edge of the balcony, as well. The other remained propped up, knee pressed close to his chest, and he lifted his right arm to rest his elbow against it. His left arm kept him sitting upright, palm flat against the ground, but in his free hand there was a steamed bun, fluffy and so fresh that smoke still billowed forth from it in little puffs when he took a bite. For what seemed like an eternity, he made no effort towards conversation or even eye contact with her, but when the silence had prolonged for a while, he at last looked over at her, studious and considerate, green eyes bright under the moonlight.

He must have noticed her eyeing the food, because he gave the softest chuckle and asked, "Would you like some? I only brought one, but I'd be more than willing to share it, if you'd like." Chihiro shook her head, and he replied, "If you're sure, then." There was the briefest pause before he thought to add, "I see you found some new clothes. Have you settled in well yet?"

"Yes," Chihiro replied, reaching up to absently toy with a few strands of her hair as she spoke. "It's . . . a very nice room, Haku. Thank you." If she were being completely frank, she almost felt guilty; Haku had been so kind to her all this time, and done so much to help her . . . she didn't want to seem as though she were ungrateful for that. "I have to admit, I really like this view; it's so beautiful."

Looking rather pensive, Haku nodded in agreement. "Nighttime is always busiest for the bath house," he said, "and when we are at our most active, everywhere else nearby seems so much quieter."

She was glad for that; it had been such a long and arduous day, and she was grateful for the chance to let her thoughts unwind in the cool night hours. Under the cover of the darkness and silence, even the bath house itself didn't appear quite such an intimidating prospect. She felt more certain of herself, more confident that she would be able to handle the days to come, when everything was so slowly paced and shadowed soft. And now that he was sitting beside her, she could take comfort in the fact that whatever awaited her, she wouldn't have to go through it alone.

Still, in spite of her newfound relaxation, there were still a few matters that she wanted further explained to her; only then did she feel that she could allow herself to become completely at ease with her current situation. While Haku was here, Chihiro supposed that she ought to take advantage of the moment and ask whatever questions were still floating around in the tangled recesses of her mind. She didn't know exactly how busy he stayed these days, and he was so mysterious, as elusive as a cloud of smoke, that she knew right away it would be difficult to keep up with where he was at any given time.

"Uh . . . Haku?" she piped up, finally remembering what she'd been wondering about most ever since parting ways with him earlier. She hesitated for just a moment, if only to allow herself enough time to collect her thoughts (Haku was so eloquently spoken, the last thing she wanted to do was trip up on her words in front of him) before saying, "Remember when you and Kamaji were talking earlier, and you mentioned that whatever kept me from going home might have had something to do with the Veil? I-I was hoping you could tell me what that actually _is_. The Veil, I mean."

She couldn't tell at first whether he was taking her question into consideration or simply ignoring the fact that she'd spoken to him at all. He filled the silence by taking another almost tentative bite of the steamed bun, his gaze faraway and impossibly melancholy as he stared out at the horizon. He seemed homesick, almost, longing for a place and a time that was no longer available to him; Chihiro couldn't help but feel the weight of his pains sitting deep in her chest, an ache of not just understanding, but wanting to help, to make sure that he could one day return to wherever it was that he thought about in the quiet moments of his life, when nothing else cluttered his mind.

At last, though, he seemed to figure out what it was he wanted to say. "When you were small, Chihiro, did you ever read fairy tales?"

It struck her as a strange question – or perhaps not all _that_ strange, given the circumstances – and for a moment, she had to fight back the first hint of a smile threatening to twitch upwards at the corners of her mouth. "Of course," she told him at last, curiosity piqued. "Why do you ask?"

"Did you ever notice that in those stories, whenever the creatures that come from another world – a magical forest, or perhaps even another kingdom – mingle with humans, there are almost always terrible consequences?" She nodded shortly, prompting him to continue. "Well . . . the Veil exists between the spirit world and that of the living to prevent such consequences. It's been there for as long as I can remember – certainly even longer than that."

Chihiro rested her chin in the palm of her hand, struck with the vague feeling that she was just a child again, being read a bedtime story to help her fall asleep on a particularly restless night. "Do you know how it got there? Or is it just something that's always been there?"

"It's a long story – one I won't bother boring you with tonight," Haku assured her, a thoughtful little chuckle escaping his parted lips. "In short, once, long ago, both spirits and mortals could share the same Earth, and lived in tandem with one another. But with the arrival of a modernized society also came a planet with conditions no longer . . . hospitable to spirits. Rivers were filled with stone and cement, entire forests completely leveled . . . that was when the world of the spirits became separate from yours."

Chihiro frowned, troubled – and yet, the story made so much sense. One part, however, still had her the slightest bit thrown. "So . . . why did Kamaji think that the Veil might be what's keeping me from going home?"

Haku sighed, but it sounded more contemplative than exasperated. "I'm . . . not sure. Actually, as it so happens, the Veil has been thinning lately."

"Thinning?"

He gave her a single nod in return. "Sometimes even tiny holes have appeared in its surface – it's not visible, but I can _feel_ it. Little spaces in between where there is no magic to be found. It has made it easier as of late for spirits to cross over into the human world . . . and vice-versa," he elaborated, giving her a pointed look at the end of his sentence.

"Oh," Chihiro breathed. After a moment's pause, though, she gave a bemused little shake of her head and observed, "But – Haku! If the Veil has gotten thinner and it's easier for people to cross through on both sides, then why did I get stuck on this side?"

He looked satisfied that she had come to this conclusion, as if he'd thought the same thing and were looking for validation of his ideas. "That's precisely our dilemma," he said. "But I suppose Kamaji was simply offering one suggestion, and his guess is as good as any at this point. In any case," he concluded with another quiet sigh, shifting his position as though he were preparing himself to get up, "it's hardly anything you need concern yourself with tonight. You've had an eventful day, Chihiro. Rest, more than anything else, will do you well at this point."

Well, he certainly wasn't wrong there; perhaps she'd simply been in shock all this time, attempting feebly to take in what had happened to her within the course of a day, but only now did it hit her how truly weary she was – and when it did hit her, it felt rather like a sack of bricks straight to the face. Her stomach gave a monstrous growl, and for a fleeting second, she regretted not accepting half of Haku's meal when he'd offered it to her earlier. Still, he was right, and her need for sleep at the moment reigned supreme over anything else. As if to further demonstrate this point, the impulse to yawn overtook her and her mouth gaped open wide; she clapped a hand over it to disguise the extent of her exhaustion, but Haku was perceptive enough to have spotted it, anyway.

"I must go now," he told her, rising to his feet in a single swift, fluid motion. Chihiro followed suit, though where he was all grace and control her movements were more like a clumsy scramble; she nearly tripped halfway up, and Haku reached out his hand to steady her. She found herself still clasping tight even long after she'd gotten to her feet. He either didn't notice or didn't mind as he said, "I can come find you in the morning, if you like, and then perhaps I can answer any more questions you may have." He paused just long enough to open the sliding door, stepping back to allow her to walk through. "In the meantime, get some sleep. And I'll see you tomorrow."

Chihiro nodded her head, but rather than completely concede to his advice, she lingered in the doorway for a few moments longer, wanting to drink in the details as much as she could before she fell asleep tonight. Despite knowing there was a block on her mind and that she couldn't access those memories, even if she tried, she couldn't help but want to dig deep, to see if there were a way to break through even without the help of Haku or Kamaji. Even worse than knowing her efforts were in vain was knowing that it would be some time before she could even hope of getting all those memories back again.

Puzzlement – or perhaps mild amusement – flitted across Haku's features, if only momentarily. "What are you doing?" he asked, apparently having noticed her intense concentration.

"I . . . nothing," she sighed, her expression relaxing at last. "I just _wish_ I could remember you."

Haku smiled at her, a little sadly, and gave the hand still feather-light in his grip a quick but gentle squeeze. "You will," he reassured her with a nod of his head. "Just give it time." And yet, in spite of the confidence of his words, there was an undeniable melancholy in his voice, an almost regretful undercurrent to every syllable. "Good night, Chihiro."

"Good night, Haku," she replied, stepping into her room at last. "Thank you."

Shortly after she turned her back, the screen door snapped shut, the loudness of the noise startling her. A few seconds spanned in silence, and then she turned around, wondering if he would perhaps still be there; with a gasp, she realized that the balcony was empty – but how was that possible? The only way he could be gone that quickly is if he jumped over the side, and they were far too high-up for that! Chihiro rushed to the window, hoping to catch a glimpse of him, and as soon as she made it there, she understood.

There, soaring through the air, was a magnificent white dragon, unfurling against the night sky like a ribbon of silk.


	5. Chapter Five: The Springs

_She was soaring, gusts of wind threading through her hair like the gentle caress of her mother's fingertips stroking along her scalp. The sky was a soft, deep blue dappled with stars, the first streaks of silvery moonlight just barely beginning to peak out from behind a cover of feathery, pearl-gray clouds. It was colder up here, the billowing breeze tossing her hair wildly back and forth, filling her lungs with crisp, chilly air, cleaner than anything she'd ever experienced with her feet planted on the ground. Even so, she couldn't help letting out a bewildered, enraptured little laugh, the sound swallowed by the wind the very moment it fell from her lips. Beneath her, the ground swung dizzily below, a sea of treetops and rolling hillsides, so distant from her that it looked more like a painting than an actual landscape; the breeze caused her to dip momentarily downward and she drew in a sharp breath, mouth agape. When she regained balance, her expression melted into a beaming smile._

 _Only when she cast a downward glance did she realize how she'd gotten up this high to begin with. She was riding on the back of a long, lithe-bodied white dragon, fingers curled around the two smooth, slightly curved horns extending upward from its lupine face. The creature's blue mane was impossibly soft, like velvet where it tickled against her arms, and tossed freely to and fro in the wind. It flew at a steady and reliable pace, and yet, every now and then, it surprised her with a steep turn or an elaborate twist, all the while remaining as graceful and sure as a dancer. She gasped and leaned down, tightening her grip on the dragon's horns, hoping beyond anything else that it would be able to support her, and as she lowered her head, she caught a glimpse of its eyes. Though they were narrowed against the sheer force of the wind, she could tell that they were a striking, luminous green – and, more importantly, that they were so_ familiar _to her._

" _Wait a minute," she heard herself saying, and strangely enough, these words left her mouth clear and strong, rising even above the howling, blustery air. "I-I know you! Are you – are you Haku?"_

 _She knew that he couldn't provide her with a proper answer, and yet, somehow she felt sure that she'd learned the truth. No sooner had she completed the last syllable of her sentence than did an inexplicable warmth spread through her body, the pit of her stomach swelling with a sudden onslaught of emotion. They'd been here before, she could feel it, and though her memories still remained cloudy and forbidden to her, she could understand all too well that this place, this moment, held some sort of great significance to the both of them. Tears sprang unbidden to her eyes, her throat descending into that unbearably familiar closed-up sensation that always came upon her whenever she felt as if she were going to cry; to prevent the tears from spilling forth onto her cheeks, she swooped downward and wrapped her arms around the dragon's neck, burrowing her face in the space between his horns._

" _Please don't lose hope, Haku," she murmured, lifting a shaking hand to gingerly stroke the underside of his face. "I know I'm getting closer to remembering something. I promise I won't let myself forget about you, not ever. Just don't give up on me, okay?"_

 _Everything around her seemed to fade in and out of focus, like an old photograph that had become blurred at the edges over a long period of time. The wind stilled, and her stomach dropped as Haku slowed in mid-flight and began to plummet to the ground. The earth below rushed up to meet them, and a scream tore from her throat, only to be swallowed by the night air roaring all around her. It seemed to take them an eternity to fall, but just as they began to break the surface of the trees several feet below, Chihiro woke with a jolt from the clutches of her dream, Haku's name still on her lips._

* * *

Chihiro's eyes flew open, wide, disoriented, and cloudy as she stared up at the ceiling to her bedroom, still drifting in the strange, faraway place between sleep and wakefulness. _Deep breath in, deep breath out_ , she coached herself, her heart still pounding a wild and erratic drumbeat against her rib cage. Slowly but surely, the haze cleared from her mind like a bride lifting her wedding veil, and as her senses returned, she pulled herself lazily to a sitting position, legs still buried in pile upon pile of blankets. Every muscle in her body felt limp and exhausted, as if sleeping had drained her of energy rather than restored it. She pushed her fingers through her bangs, only to find that they were impossibly tangled and sweat-dampened from the intensity of her dream. Already, the images were beginning to fade from her memory, but just the thought of it sent a chill down her spine, nevertheless.

What could have possibly prompted her to dream such a thing? And, more importantly, why in the world had it left her so shaken? Other than the last few seconds, when they'd hurtled towards the ground, it hadn't really been a nightmare, yet now that she was lying awake in bed, she felt strangely unsettled. Could it be that she'd almost gotten one of her memories back, and the effort alone had left her weak and listless? She supposed that would be just one of many questions she would have to ask Haku today; that is, if he was still planning on meeting her this morning. She'd seen him fly off into the distance in the form of a magnificent white dragon last night – come to think of it, now she realized that this instance was likely what caused her to dream about flying on a dragon's back in the first place – so she wasn't necessarily certain if he would even still be at the bath house at this hour.

If Chihiro were being perfectly honest, she considered herself immensely fortunate that he seemed to have taken such a keen interest in her. She didn't know whether it was their past connection to one another that motivated him to look after her so faithfully, or if he simply saw something in her that she couldn't necessarily see, but she was grateful regardless. Just from what she'd gleaned yesterday, he seemed so aloof and distant where everyone else was concerned, and yet he'd spoken to her so kindly, looked at her with such patience in his eyes. Either he cared for her well-being a great deal or he was simply trying to pull her into some sort of elaborate trick; she certainly hoped that it was the former. He was the only true friend that she had here (Kamaji had seemed friendly enough, but she doubted he would be much help if she wanted to talk about personal things with him) and she would admittedly be quite devastated to see that relationship ended before it even had the chance to begin.

The screen door at the far end of the bedroom snapped open, immediately gaining Chihiro's attention. Her first instinct was to think of Haku, and how he'd promised that he would come back to find her in the morning, but when she looked up, the figure stepping in through the doorway was actually a young woman, a pile of fresh linens tucked under her arm. She was dressed in the very same style of bath house uniform that Chihiro had picked out for herself last night, but it seemed to fit her tall, willowy figure much better than it hung on the human girl's short and skinny frame. Her chestnut brown hair cascaded down around her shoulders like silk, gleaming soft and fine in the morning light streaming through the windows; she sported tousled bangs, and just underneath them, her brown eyes were wide with shock as they stared directly at Chihiro.

"What the –" she stuttered, her voice slightly lower-pitched than Chihiro expected, but still sultry even in her indignant surprise. After a moment, though, the woman's voice softened, gained almost an affectionate sort of expression as she gasped, " _Sen_? Is that you?"

She hardly got a chance to correct the stranger before she rushed towards her, giggling so loudly that Chihiro felt certain that whatever bath house workers that had been sleeping on the lower levels would be jarred awake by the sound. Before she knew it, she was swept up into a tight embrace, the woman's grip on her so tight that it brought Chihiro straight to her feet.

"Oh, you are _kidding_ me!" she cried, sounding as thrilled as if she had just been reunited with a long-lost beloved relative. "I can't believe it! You're really here! You big _dope_ , why didn't you tell me that you were coming back?" She pulled back from the hug now, still beaming as she rested her hands on Chihiro's shoulders, apparently not having yet registered the bemusement on her companion's face. A pang of guilt tugged at the center of Chihiro's chest; she did seem like a friendly person to be around, but could it be possible that she had her mistaken for someone else?

Swallowing hard, she shook her head, taking a step or two back from the bath house worker. "I-I'm really sorry," she stammered, hating it when she saw the brief instant of hurt and confusion flash across the woman's face, "but that's not my name. I'm Chihiro. I think you've got the wrong person." The stranger advanced a step forward, hand outstretched, and she instinctively flinched back, anticipating that she would be struck, but when nothing affronted her, she turned her gaze back to the woman before her and tacked on hurriedly, "I, uh . . . I don't want to be rude, but who _are_ you?"

An instant later, she saw why the woman had been reaching for her in the first place. She placed her palm flat upon Chihiro's forehead, her eyes narrowed with a steadily growing suspicion. "Are you feeling okay?" she asked, tilting her head slightly to the side. "I mean, you couldn't have found your way back here if you didn't remember how to get here in the first place." After a moment's pause, she seemed to realize that she'd been asked a question, and she amended, "Oh, I'm Lin. Which you _should_ already know. So . . . you really _don't_ remember, I guess. Not anything at all?"

Chihiro shook her head again, frustrated beyond anything else that she seemed so robbed of answers to any of the myriads of questions fired her way. "I just got here yesterday," she explained – at least, to the best of her abilities with what little information she had available. "Uh – Haku said that there was some kind of block on my memories, and that's why I can't remember."

This didn't seem to please Lin – in fact, she only seemed more confused now than ever, furrowing her brow so intensely that Chihiro felt certain that the space between her eyes would wrinkle. "Haku said that?" she asked, sounding immediately and passionately skeptical. When she nodded her head in response, Lin pursed her lips and said, hesitating for a moment before saying, "Listen . . . about that guy—"

Before she was able to complete her sentence, the screen door slid noisily open once again, alerting them both to a newcomer in the room. Chihiro whirled around to see who stood in the doorway, once again anticipating that it would be Haku, returned from wherever it was he'd gone last night to come greet her as he'd promised. She couldn't disguise the visible slump of her shoulders when she realized that it was merely another bath house worker, this one significantly younger than both Lin and Chihiro, though she wore the same pink and white uniform.

"Come on, Lin," she called, sticking her head only briefly through the doorway before darting out once again, obviously in a hurry to get someplace. "We're working on the big tub today! Put that laundry down and hurry up!"

" _Alriiiiight_ already!" Lin called after her fellow employee, hackles raised. Heaving an exasperated huff of a sigh, she turned her attention back to Chihiro once the other worker had left the room, her tone of voice as well as the look on her face resigned and weary. "Sorry. Looks like I gotta go for now," she explained, jabbing her thumb over her shoulder to indicate the doorway that the other handmaid had just come from. "But anyway, listen, I'll tell you everything later, if you want." Without waiting for an answer, she began to hurry for the door, leaving the clean laundry she'd brought into the room with her in a newly-crumpled heap on the floor.

"Uh – okay," Chihiro called after her, hardly able to keep a smile from her features even in spite of her confusion. Lin's energy was a thoroughly contagious one, and she was even more comforted by the fact that she had the most distinct feeling that they really _had_ met once before; she imagined that it would be so pleasant to have a friend like that, especially in a place like this where confidantes seemed to be so sparse. "Bye, Lin!"

Lin turned around just long enough to wave in response. "See you later! Oh, and Sen?" she added, faltering for a moment and coming to a halt, looking genuinely serious and vulnerable, if slightly sheepish.

"Yeah?" Chihiro didn't feel it entirely necessary to correct Lin on her name; that part, she figured, would come later.

The barest traces of a smile found their way onto Lin's face, teasing at the corners of her full, pink mouth. "Don't you dare leave this time without saying goodbye, you got that?"

Sporting a rueful grin of her own, Chihiro gave a soft, thoughtful chuckle and said, "Sure thing."

With that, Lin went on her way, leaving Chihiro alone with her thoughts for practically the first time since she'd woken up this morning. Drawing a slow, deep breath, she shut her eyes and folded her arms neatly across her chest, as if she were trying to hold onto what little of herself she had left and keep it from spilling out and becoming lost to the wind, like it seemed that her memories had done. It was strange, she couldn't help but realize, just how much she'd thought she'd known about herself up until just yesterday, when she'd wandered unknowingly into this world that had apparently once been a home as well as a horror to her. Being here was like wandering through a dark and cloudy hallway, and every time she took a turn, she ended up going in a completely different direction than she'd originally anticipated. With any luck, her memories would return to her soon enough; she wasn't certain of how much longer she could take all this agonizing confusion.

It had been some time since she'd woken up this morning, and Haku still was nowhere in sight, so Chihiro sighed, resigning herself to a fate of staying in her room until either he appeared or she decided if it would be worth it to try and run for the tunnel once again. A frown slanting its way across her features, she sank to her knees once again and curled up on the flat mat she'd used as a bed, casting a quick glance out the nearest window before reaching out and hugging her legs, resting her chin on the crevice between her kneecaps. Already, she could feel the worry mounting within her; where was Haku? Had something happened to him to keep him from coming? Or had he just lied to her about showing up at all? Last night, he'd seemed like he genuinely cared about what happened to her, but she'd heard stories of people from fantastical worlds like this being notoriously deceptive and selfish. Perhaps he really had been tricking her all this time, stringing her along in his idea of a magnificent game.

Just as that deeply troubling thought had dared to enter her mind, the sound of a door sliding open at the opposite end of the room caught her attention. Chihiro gasped and whirled around, and sure enough, Haku stood there, having just arrived from the balcony entrance. He looked windswept but no worse for wear, though there was an undeniable weariness in his eyes that concerned her somewhere deep down. He glanced around cautiously for a moment, most likely ensuring that the room was empty, before he even saw her – and when he did, she couldn't help but notice that his facial expression seemed to lighten considerably. He remained unsmiling, as usual, but there was something imperceptible in the look on his face, something so distantly kind and reassuring, that she almost felt as if he didn't need to, anyway.

Immediately, she clambered to her feet, and if she weren't so excited to finally see him, it would have occurred to her to be embarrassed at her own clumsiness. When at last she stood upright, she cleared her throat and straightened out her clothing, striding quickly over to meet Haku where he stood by the door. "Haku," she said – or more like breathed in the mildest wonderment as she took in his appearance, thankful beyond anything that he was real, and not just something she'd managed to dream up. "Um – good morning."

"Good morning, Chihiro," was his polite – if slightly formal – response, coupled with the slightest little nod of his head. "I trust you slept well."

"Yeah, I did." She swallowed hard, determined to make no mention of the dream she'd had last night, of flying through the sky on the back of a dragon. "I'm really glad you're here," she admitted, cursing herself mentally when she felt the first telltale heat of a crimson blush blossoming across her face. "I thought for a minute there that maybe you weren't going to show up."

A rueful smile tugged at the corners of his mouth, disappearing as quickly as it came about. "I'm sorry that I kept you waiting," he said, "but I had a few matters of my own to attend to before I came for you this morning. I take it that you would still like to come along on a walk with me, though?"

Chihiro nodded, eyes wide and filled with trust. "Sure. Where exactly are we going?"

His smile returned in earnest this time, soft and tentative to match the thoughtfulness in his gaze. It was an expression that suited him, she thought, brought something to his eyes that took the edge off their steely gleam. He extended his hand directly in front of him, and when Chihiro followed his line of sight down to his slender fingers, she understood; reaching forward, she placed her hand within his own, surprised at how easily they seemed to fit together.

"Follow me."

* * *

The weather was pleasant this morning, the sky a crisp, bright blue stretching vast and endless above them, its placid smoothness marred only at the horizon by a few sparing brushstrokes of pearl-gray clouds. Though the sun had only just risen a few hours prior, it shone with bewildering clarity, warming the air just enough for comfort and keeping the humble – if slightly eerie – town just outside the bath house bathed in soft summer light. The breeze that blew was easy and unintrusive, tossing Chihiro's ponytail back and forth and even managing to tousle Haku's sleek hair just the slightest bit. If she pushed all her memories of yesterday and this morning to the side, she could almost imagine that she were on a vacation someplace secluded and slow-paced, with nothing awaiting her in the future but sunny skies and starry nights.

Haku's unwavering presence at her side was enough to dispel the illusion.

He'd been serious and silent on the way out of the bath house, a brooding element to the look in his eyes that either she hadn't noticed yesterday or hadn't been there at all. She thought it was weariness; since he'd flown away like that last night, it wouldn't be unreasonable to assume that he might have been out all night, though she couldn't say for what purpose. He seemed like the sort of person who would dutifully go about searching for something even if he didn't know what answer he sought, who would continue doggedly pursuing the questions that everyone else had ceased to ask. It was strange how moved she was by him, how much she wanted to know about him and who he was, when she'd only just met him yesterday.

Or, actually, they'd apparently met once before – she kept forgetting to add _that_ into the equation.

"We're almost there," he informed her, startling her out of her musings. It was the first time he'd addressed her at all since they'd left her bedroom earlier; the further away they got from the bath house, the more he seemed to relax beside her, the more willing he became to open up, if only in fractional amounts. "Just a short distance more until we arrive. You have never seen this place before, Chihiro – I think you'll be very interested to see it."

She wanted to bring up the fact that right now, she couldn't remember ever seeing _any_ place in this world, but she held her tongue; Haku had been so kind to her since she'd come here, and she wouldn't want to reward his efforts for her sake with unnecessary sarcasm.

"Really?" was her response instead, and she had to admit that she was genuinely curious. Part of her wished that he didn't have to be so enigmatic all the time, that he could just come clean and tell her where on Earth they were headed. "Is that where you went after you came to see me last night on the balcony?"

Her question elicited a chuckle – quiet and short-lived, but there nonetheless – from Haku. "No," he replied, gazing at her from the corners of his eyes as they strode over the bridge, still side-by-side. "Though that does have something to do with where we're going today."

They fell into silence again, though this one was significantly less strained than the last. No sooner had they completed their walk over the bridge than did he take her gently by the arm, guiding her along as he turned abruptly to the left. She stumbled after him, and when she got her bearings, she could see that they were walking along a secluded dirt pathway that she hadn't even noticed when she'd first arrived here yesterday afternoon.

 _Yesterday afternoon . . . it's been that long already. I wonder what Mei and the others are gonna do . . . or if they even know I'm gone._

Chihiro shook her head as if to will away that unnerving thought, forcing herself to focus instead on her walk with Haku. The walkway he was leading her down sloped down a long hill, and they strode so far that soon enough, when she glanced back over her shoulder the bath house was merely a looming shadow in the distance. Just when it started to seem as though they'd been walking for an eternity, he stopped short – they'd finally arrived at their destination.

They stood in front of a small outcropping of rock, just about to enter the gaping mouth of a humble little cave. Chihiro couldn't see all the way through to the inside – just an inky blackness where the cave began and nothing but darkness after that. Fear gripped her, and again she entertained the terrifying notion that perhaps she'd placed her trust in Haku far too preemptively, throwing a quick and newly wary glance in his direction to see if he would possibly explain. He seemed relatively unfazed, and when he caught her gaze, he extended a hand to offer her the opportunity to step forward first.

"This way," he indicated, advancing a step towards the cave's entrance. "Don't worry; it isn't nearly as dark inside as it looks from here." He must have sensed her insecurity, because his words had the effect of bestowing an almost immediate sort of calm upon her – it seemed like he always knew just what to say, especially to her.

Chihiro nodded, strengthening her resolve, and without further stalling, took her first tentative step inside. The change in the air was immediate and obvious, the arid, balmy breeze outside extinguished in favor of a colder, damper atmosphere. She could hear water dripping in pinging rivulets from the cave ceiling, and in the dark the sound was more intimidating than she might have anticipated, but she continued forward, nonetheless, knowing that Haku was right behind her. And he hadn't been lying to her; the farther along she walked, the more her eyes adjusted to the lighting and she realized that it wasn't nearly as impossible to navigate as she'd thought. She breathed a sigh of relief, trailing one hand along the wall to keep her balance, until at last it seemed they'd arrived where Haku wanted them to go.

They stood in the cave's atrium now, and it didn't take her long to realize what he'd wanted to show her. The walls that surrounded them on all sides glowed a brilliant, pulsating blue, and at the far end of the room, there was a massive, rushing waterfall, coupled with a small body of water just underneath. From this angle, she couldn't tell exactly what it was, but the water seemed to have something in it – little blue orbs, twinkling as if they were stars that had been scraped from the sky and tossed here instead. She could practically feel the tingle of magic in this place, raising the downy-light hairs at the back of her neck.

When she could hear Haku's footsteps drawing up closely behind her, she gasped and whirled around to face him. "It's – it's _beautiful_!" she gasped, shaking her head in thinly-concealed awe. "What is this place, Haku?"

If she wasn't mistaken, she thought she saw the first traces of amusement gleaming in his eyes. "A hot spring," he explained, gesturing to the gorgeous scene just off to their right, "whose waters contain healing properties. We've come to this cavern for many years to harvest ingredients for our own bath formulas."

Chihiro nodded, immediately comprehending; the more she thought about it, the more aware she became of the humidity pouring in waves off the water nearby – she couldn't believe that she hadn't noticed that this place was a spring until he'd mentioned it. For a few fleeting seconds, the thought occurred to her that Haku must have taken her here for a reason, and she'd yet to figure out precisely what that was. She supposed that the sight alone was gorgeous and deeply moving, but surely he had a purpose in bringing her here beyond that? It didn't take her long, however, to realize that perhaps this had something to do with the block placed upon her memories, and the restorative draught she would need to brew in order to get them all back.

"Do you think that whatever's in this water will help me remember everything that happened before?" she asked, fingers nervously straying to clutch onto the hem of her shirt as she spoke. _I hope I'm right – I just . . . I just want to remember._

Haku nodded, taking her hand and slowly beginning to guide her over to the water's edge. "I think it may have something to do with that, yes." As they drew closer to the bank of the spring, he came to a halt, pausing for just long enough to retrieve something from the deep pocket just within his tunic. "Do you see this?" he said as he withdrew what he'd been looking for – a slightly-crumpled sheet of paper, folded over four times. Chihiro nodded, and as if prompted by this gesture alone, he unfolded the paper, revealing to her what appeared to be a set of instructions.

"What is that?" she asked, leaning forward curiously in order to read the untidy scrawl meandering across the page. "It looks like some kind of recipe."

"That's precisely what it is," he confirmed, passing her the paper to allow her to more easily read its contents. "For a restorative potion. I got this information directly from the one who placed the block upon your memory, so with any luck, this will tell us exactly how to get them back."

 _I'll be able to get them back_ , Chihiro thought, half in awe and half exhilarated with the idea. _All of them_. "And then I'll finally be able to remember _you_ ," she pointed out, unable to keep the thrill she felt from coloring her tone of voice.

If this statement touched or otherwise affected Haku, he barely let it show upon his face, the startling green of his eyes brightening for just a moment as a smile threatened to break his calm façade. When he had rearranged his features into their usual mask of placid control, he nodded and replied, "I certainly hope so." He allowed only the briefest pause before leaning forward slightly, gesturing with his index finger to the floating orbs effervescing beneath the water's surface. "Do you see those?" he asked her, and, prompted by the nod of her head, he continued, "We need one of them in order to make the restorative draught, according to the instructions."

"What _are_ they?"

Before he chose to answer her, he reached for her hand, his touch cool where his fingertips brushed against the palm of her hand. A moment of silence passed between them before Chihiro relaxed and returned his grip, not for the first time finding a strange level of safety and security just in the simple action of holding his hand. They advanced a few steps closer to the water's edge before Haku sank into a slow, easy crouch, and Chihiro followed suit, the spray of the hot spring reaching her face from this angle, showering her in a fine, warm mist. From here, the glowing balls of light bobbing just below the water's surface were even more magnificent, their luminescence casting blue shadows across Haku's pale features.

"As far as I am aware, no one has ever given them a real name," he told her at last, "but in waters such as these, they're fairly common. River spirits, especially, are known to make use of them, and to bestow them as gifts to humans that have pleased them – though they usually look much different in those cases."

A quick flash of a memory passed through her mind, teasing her into believing that it might be tangible, accessible, and yet disappearing the minute it came about – a brief glimpse of a colossal wave of bath water, the whispered phrase " _Well done_ ," a soft, round, green object sitting in the palm of her hand. Chihiro reached for more, desperate to learn of the time she'd once spent in this bath house, but it was gone, irretrievable for now until who knew when.

Shaking her head as if to clear away the troubling ghost of that thought, Chihiro turned her attention to Haku and said, "So, how many do you think we'll need?"

"Just one should suit us in this case," he responded, the familiar kindness that he seemed to reserve just for her shining bright in his eyes. "Would you like to do the honors? Catching them is very simple – just stick your hand beneath the water and search until you find one that is cold to the touch. Those are the kind that we need; they are strong, but not so much that their magic would ever overwhelm you."

Chihiro nodded, though she had to admit, she was somewhat hesitant. She had no idea what these things could do, after all, and though she usually believed that the best way to learn was through firsthand experience, she couldn't help but feel reticent in this particular situation. Undoubtedly, she trusted Haku – he'd been kinder to her than anyone else since she'd gotten here, and somehow she just felt that she was well looked-after so long as he was beside her – but the shimmering orbs floating there before her were more difficult to believe in. His instructions had seemed simple enough, and yet still she feared that there was something she could do to mess even that up beyond repair.

For the sake of her lost memories, she would have to try.

Taking a deep breath to steady herself, Chihiro leaned slightly forward, at last reaching out her hand and submerging it beneath the placid surface of the water. The temperature of the hot springs wasn't actually unbearably warm – in fact, it was downright tepid, compared to what she'd expected. In no time at all, one of the orbs brushed against her fingertips, and yet that one was not the kind she needed – it was unmistakably hot to the touch, even warmer than the water itself, and she flinched from it immediately, frightened that it might scorch her palm otherwise. A few more passed by, but these too were warm – by the time she found one that was cold, her fingers had just begun to brush against the spring's silty bottom. She gasped, elated to have found one at last, and enclosed the orb tight within her fist . . .

And with a sharp electrical jolt through her entire body, everything went black.


	6. Chapter Six: Promise

The first thing that Chihiro saw when her eyes fluttered open was Haku staring down at her, a stricken expression written across his features. It was a jarring change from the usual calm and control he displayed around her, and for a few awful seconds she wondered what on Earth could possibly be wrong with her, to trouble him quite so much.

"Chihiro," he said at last, and his voice sounded strangely blurry to her, as though he were calling out to her from the surface of a body of water and she were floating several feet below. " _Chihiro_ – are you alright?"

She groaned – or at least, she thought she did, could feel the vibration against her soft palate, though she couldn't tell if she'd actually managed to produce a sound – and her vision spun dizzily, a dull soreness in her temples all the while. Slowly but surely, her senses began to return to her, a sudden tingling blossoming into place at the tips of her fingers and her feet, like she'd been frozen solid and had been left to thaw out. Almost against her own wishes, her eyelids, suddenly impossibly heavy, fell shut for a moment; as she fought to keep her eyes open, she thought she could feel the softness of Haku's fingers against the back of her neck, raising her head the slightest bit upward for support. Even in spite of the worry apparent in his eyes, his touch was as careful and gentle as ever.

"Haku? What – what _happened_?" she finally asked, doing her best to enunciate clearly in spite of the fact that it seemed to her as if her voice were dragging, as thick and slow as honey. She stirred just the slightest bit, but even that much movement sent a bone-deep ache throughout her entire body.

"Just relax," was his immediate response as he gingerly pulled her closer to him, resting her head upon his lap in order to provide her some support. "And try not to move around too much until you've rested a bit. It may take a while for the magic to wear off." He turned away from her for a handful of seconds, silent but obviously rattled underneath his veneer of calm and control. She couldn't quite tell, but out of the corner of her eye, it appeared as though he were holding a tiny clay bowl; sure enough, when he turned back to face her, she could see that it was just that, filled to the brim with fresh, clear water.

"You blacked out," he deigned to elaborate at last, inclining her head the slightest bit upward. "Only for a short time, so I'm certain you'll be alright, but . . . just try and take slow, deep breaths for now. Here – drink this in the meantime." He tilted the bowl slightly in order to keep it close to her mouth, and, prompted by his words, Chihiro accepted it from there, placing the tiny basin in her own hands and taking a few steady, easy sips. The water was refreshingly cold, and as the seconds ticked by, she could feel the weakness and shakiness in her limbs slowly begin to subside.

Gazing up at him in an expression of mingled bemusement and gratitude, Chihiro murmured, "Thank you, Haku. For looking after me, I mean. I'm _so_ sorry, I – I don't know what I did. I must have grabbed the wrong one—"

Almost immediately, Haku shook his head, eyes wide and surprisingly earnest as he met her stare with one of his own. " _No_ , Chihiro," he insisted, an unusual sort of strain in the undercurrent of his voice. "You neither owe me nor anyone else anything close to an apology. This was not your fault. Do you understand that?"

She gave a brisk nod of her head in response. "Y-yes," she stuttered lamely, surprised by the intensity of his tone. "Will the orb that I got still work? Do we need to get another one?"

The look in his eyes softened at her inquiry, and with the quietest sigh, he shook his head and said, "You don't need to trouble yourself over that. I will be sure to make amends wherever necessary, but for now, you just need to wait until you've regained your strength."

She did her best to nod her head in response, though it was a bit more difficult to execute from her current angle. By now it seemed that her head had ceased in its pounding, her pulse no longer rushing in her ears but slow and stable. Strange, she couldn't help but think, how Haku's presence always appeared to have that very effect upon her. For whatever reason, Chihiro had been left with the lingering feeling ever since arriving here that he was the only familiar thing she had here at the bath house; she couldn't remember how it was that his face, his voice, everything seemed just as close to her as if they were family, but it brought her a significant amount of comfort all the same.

Again, her thoughts drifted back to the dream she'd had last night, flying on the back of a beautiful white dragon; it was the safest and yet the most exhilarated she'd ever felt, and she couldn't help but notice that she felt the exact same way every time she looked at him.

"Haku?" she spoke up after a while, swallowing hard past the ragged dryness in her throat.

"Yes?"

For a moment, she found herself almost hesitant to respond. She knew all too well that Haku wouldn't laugh at her or berate her if she voiced her thoughts or concerns, and yet something filled her with nervousness at the thought of being open or vulnerable around him. He seemed so wise, so ageless in comparison to herself – it seemed ridiculous, laughable, to even entertain the idea of bothering him with her silly worries.

Still, she drew a deep breath, squared her shoulders, and at last managed to say, "Would you . . . I mean . . . you wouldn't mind lying down with me here, would you? For just a little while?" Even to ask that much of him felt childlike, _stupid_ of her; in the silence that followed her request, her stomach sank to the floor and she found herself hoping beyond hope that he at least wouldn't laugh.

Thankfully, there seemed to be nothing but kindness (if not mildest surprise) that registered across his features. No doubt, the request must have seemed odd to him, even he did make his best effort to keep from showing it. Here she was, acting as if she were a little girl again, all of the sudden feeling incredibly foolish . . . and there _he_ was, just as calm and thoughtful as ever, as mysterious and graceful as the dragon from her dream. Still, he must have seen something in the request worth honoring, because she watched in subdued amazement as he, without a word, sank down to the ground, lying slowly down on his back beside her on the cold stone floor. Amusement flashed through his eyes for only the briefest instant before his hand found hers, his long, slender fingers entwining with her own.

"Is this what you had in mind?" he asked, green eyes wide and questing as they searched her gaze with their usual studious attention to detail.

A smile threatened to break the practiced calm on Chihiro's face. "Yes," she said after a moment's pause, feeling as though she'd known him all her life even if her memories of him were foggy and far away. "This is perfect."

Haku said nothing in response for what felt like an eternity, but he did return her words with the gentlest squeeze to her hand, an oddly personal, human gesture coming from someone who always seemed to be centuries apart from her. (Though, if she were being completely honest, that was precisely what she'd hoped for.) Briefly, she found herself wondering how many nights they'd spent like this in the past – if any at all – and if he was thinking about them, now, if he wanted her to remember just as badly as she did. Were there genuine feelings beneath that chilly, aloof mask, or was he just as indifferent towards her as everyone else here? Sometimes, she found it hard to make that distinction.

"I am sorry," he said, just when the two of them had begun to ease into a comfortable silence, "that you've been trapped here . . . _again_. Just know that if there were any possible way that I could return you home any sooner, I would. The _last_ thing that I want for you is to be confined to this world . . . as I am."

The pain in his voice was subdued, but raw and startlingly real, an unexpected turn from his usual withdrawn, closed-off demeanor. If there'd been any doubt in Chihiro's mind that he had every intention of helping her on whatever level that he possibly could, then it had all been effectively chased away right in that moment. He was willing to be personal with her in ways that he would never dare display in front of anyone else, and she only wished that she could remember why that was. Ever since they'd first crossed paths yesterday afternoon, she'd felt terrible for being unable to reciprocate the kindness that he'd shown to her, and this only further cemented that feeling in her mind.

"You can't leave?" she asked, unable to help her curiosity. She inclined her head slightly upward as she spoke in order to get a better look at her companion, and was certainly intrigued by the thoughtfulness that she found, bright in his eyes.

With a shake of his head, Haku responded, "No." His gaze met hers, and for a few moments, they lay side-by-side, reveling in the silence, before he decided to speak up again. "I suppose I could, now that I no longer answer to Yubaba in the same way that I once did, but . . . well, I have nowhere else that I _can_ go."

This, perhaps, was the saddest statement that Chihiro had heard from him yet. She could think of nothing worse than having no real sense of belonging anywhere, no place to truly call home, or even a memory of somewhere else to think of in the middle of the night. While she was certainly frightened now that she'd wound up trapped in this place, at least she had her thoughts of her house and her family, even her friends, to keep her from falling into complete despair. They were what gave her the strength to keep pushing forward; knowing that she'd be able to return to them (hopefully sometime soon) gave her the courage that she needed to survive this place. And Haku – quiet, distant, but unfailingly kind Haku – had none of that.

For a moment, impulse struck her and she found herself wondering if it would be possible to take him back home with her. He'd said that it would be possible for him to leave, just that he had nowhere to go; perhaps he could find the place that he needed with _her_.

Immediately, Chihiro realized the presumptuousness of such a thought, and felt her cheeks redden in response. Regardless of the fact that everyone told her that she'd met Haku before, as far as she could remember, she'd only known him since yesterday; it seemed ridiculous, then, to even entertain the thought of giving him a home right alongside her own. And even if she did make such an offer, what made her think that someone like him would ever agree to it?

Before she could stop herself, she asked, "Don't you have any family who know where you are? Maybe you could try to find them, and then you could go home again. It must be miserable to just be stuck here for that long and not even try to get out."

The silence that spanned between them in the moments afterward told her all that she needed to know. When Haku spoke up again, there was a note of finality in the undercurrent of his voice that denoted there would be no further discussion as far as the topic of his home was concerned. "I _was_ miserable for a very long time. And it took several years for me to come to peace with all that has happened, but I finally did when I realized that home isn't always necessarily a place. There are some circumstances where . . . home can be a _person_ , too."

This statement earned another wistful sigh from Chihiro. "I'm so sorry, Haku," she murmured, closing her eyes for a moment.

To her surprise, Haku only seemed amused by this. "Sorry?" he repeated. "What on Earth has made you believe that you owe me so many apologies, Chihiro?"

"I'm just . . . sorry," she muttered, frustrated now more than ever with her inability to articulate exactly what was going on in her mind. "For always sticking my foot in my mouth. Especially whenever I'm around you. I know you must feel like I'm deliberately trying to upset you by now, but I promise I'm not."

For a few awful seconds, he remained quiet, and she almost grew fearful that he was in total agreement with her and would show no hesitation in saying so. His gaze met hers, steady and intelligent, and it came as more than a slight shock to hear him answer, "I understand. It isn't lost on me how much you have been through since yesterday afternoon, nor how much we have asked of you in all that time. All things considered, I can forgive a few episodes of ineloquence," he added, and if she wasn't mistaken, she thought she saw a flash of genuine _humor_ glint in the mysterious green of his eyes.

Unable to help herself, Chihiro felt the first traces of a rueful smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. "Thank you," she said, as earnest as she'd ever heard herself before. "For everything. Really. If you hadn't been the one to find me yesterday, I don't know what I would've done. Especially since I . . ." another huff of annoyance – mainly directed towards herself – and then she continued, "I'm just so . . . I feel so _scared_."

"You have no reason to be," was the dragon boy's immediate response, and though such words may have seemed dismissive or cold from anyone else (or even from Haku himself under other circumstances) now she found only comfort in them. "I have mentioned this before, but you must remember that you survived this place once before. And you were much younger then, and the stakes far higher."

"I . . . guess so," she sighed, hating more than anything that she couldn't just have as much faith in herself as he obviously placed in her. "But to me, this all feels so unfamiliar. It's like being here for the first time all over again." She swallowed hard against the sudden lump in her throat, dreading the looming threat of tears that stung the backs of her eyelids. With a hollow, humorless little laugh, she asked, "Are you _sure_ I'm the girl you're thinking of at all? You must have me mixed up with someone."

A rueful smile touched the corners of his mouth, if only for a fleeting instant. "The more that I speak with you," he confided, "the more certain I become that it _is_ you." A short pause spanned between them before he drew a deep breath, seeming to take time to gather the proper words before he spoke again. "There was a time, long ago, when you helped me to recover a memory of something very important to me. And now, I will do whatever I can to do the same for you."

Now it was Chihiro's turn to smile, if only because her vision had become slightly blurry with tears that she didn't dare to shed. "Promise?"

"I promise."

* * *

The day had drawn to an end, the sunset painting the sky an elaborate mix of orange, red, and pink, and Haku couldn't remember a time that he'd felt quite so exhausted as this. He hadn't expected the day's events to draw quite so much out of him; the dilemma surrounding the recovery of Chihiro's memories only seemed to worsen by the second, and here he stood, practically helpless to get it under control, save for the vague instructions provided to him by Yubaba. What had happened earlier in the cave troubled him deeply, and he knew that before they continued searching for the remaining ingredients, he wanted to get some answers pertaining to that much first and foremost.

The spell shouldn't have had quite such a strong adverse effect upon her; he'd expected perhaps a slight headache, a minuscule reaction to a perfectly acceptable amount of magic, and yet, what he'd seen back there had been something entirely different. It was almost as if there was _already_ a powerful energy deep within Chihiro herself, and it had fought against the magic in the water of the spring. He supposed it was possible that some of the spells she had encountered during her first visit to the spirit world would have had some lingering effects, but after eight years? It seemed more than a little unthinkable to him.

With any luck, Kamaji would be able to tell him _something_ that would help make sense of it all.

Now that things were winding down for the steadily-approaching night – the baths long since closed to the public, the guests all readying themselves for a peaceful slumber – Haku felt all the more certain that he would be able to talk to the boiler man on more level terms. It was often difficult to hold a conversation with him when his mind (as well as his eight arms) seemed to be in a million different places at once, but now, with minimal distractions, they could truly sit down and figure out what they needed to do about Chihiro's dilemma. There were so many things left unresolved – no thanks to Yubaba, who no doubt derived great pleasure from the opportunity to be so cryptic with them – that he wondered if they would even _cover_ all that they needed to within one night.

Most importantly, he felt it necessary to discuss all this without Chihiro overhearing it. Much as he hated to keep her out of a conversation that revolved mostly around the fact that she was stuck here in the first place, she had been through a lot within the course of the past two days, and the last thing he wanted was to place more stress upon her shoulders. Everything that they talked about tonight would be things that he could easily tell her when the morning came, but for now, it seemed a decent night's rest would help her more than anything else.

At last, Haku came to the door that led to the boiler room. Throwing a cautious glance over his shoulder, he paused just a moment before slipping through to the other side . . . never once noticing that Chihiro had, in fact, snuck out of bed, and was following undetected not far behind.


End file.
